The Chronicles of Kurosaki Hiroshi
by simplygone
Summary: Naruto is finally given a team consisting of Hiroshi, Shiro and Himawari. During their training a new evil begins to show itself. How will Naruto prepare his team for the upcoming struggle? Rated M for strong language and violence ON HIATUS
1. Enter: Kurosaki Hiroshi!

**Well this is my first attempt at a Naruto fan fic. Naruto is 25 and a Jounin in this fic. The next couple of chapters or so will be the Introduction Arc. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and never will!**

**1. Enter: Kurosaki Hiroshi!**

The sun rose over a field of endless trees. The light tapped on a huge closed gate and wall, entering the village the great stone wall surrounded. Soon it crept up to a somewhat run down, old apartment building. The light then entered the window of one of the units, a big one room apartment with a bed in the corner with a sign of life to it. Hanging on the wall was a poster of a symbol of a leaf. Nearby was a table with four chairs, on the table were several empty bowls and an empty carton of milk. Suddenly the life form under the sheets began to stir and groan, sounding as the life form didn't want to wake up. Suddenly the covers revealed a man in his mid twenties, wearing a black shirt and boxers. His spikey, bleach blonde hair was messy as if it hadn't been combed in years, his eyes finally opened to reveal the ice blue color in them. The blonde yawned heavily and finally stood up and began stretching. He walked to the kitchen portion of the apartment, opening one of the pantry doors taking out a cup of instant ramen. He turned on the stove to begin heating up some water. Once it started to boil, the blonde poured some of it in the cup and waited. Three minutes later, he began eating it. The blonde decided to eat by the window for some unknown reason. He gazed out over the village which just came to life with people walking through out the streets. Suddenly the blonde heard a familiar bird call and slowly looked to the sky.

"Oh damn it, not now." The blonde said. He walked to his closet and took out some clothes and headed for the bathroom. He closed the door and a few minutes later came out wearing a black and orange jumpsuit. The blonde grabbed his keys, tied on his Konoha forehead protector and walked out the door. He decided to take the rooftops to the Hokage tower.

* * *

The blonde reached the Hokage tower and began walking down the hall towards the office. Once he reached the office, he knocked on the door. 

"Come in." yelled a female voice through the door. The blonde opened the door to find some other people as well, including a very familiar pink-haired Kunoichi.

"Oh, hey there Sakura-chan." The blonde said with his huge grin.

"What are you doing here Naruto?" Sakura asked who was obviously annoyed.

"I was called here by the bird." Naruto responded still smiling at the pink-haired girl that was close to being shoulder length. Her emerald eyes twinkled, in Naruto's eyes anyways. She was wearing a sleeveless red shirt, pink elbow guards and a short pink skirt and black shorts underneath with her Shuriken holster on her right leg. Her red forehead protector was just above her forehead to keep some of the hair out of her face.

Sakura realized she snapped for no reason. "Sorry Naruto, I'm not having a good morning so far."

"Don't worry about it Sakura-chan."

Finally, an older woman with long blonde hair, light brown eyes wearing a grey, robe like shirt and black paints and high heels entered the room.

"You're all probably wondering why I summoned you all hear today." The woman said.

"Yeah, so Tsunade-baachan, what's up?" asked Naruto. The certainly caused a nerve to pop out of Tsunade's forehead.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Don't call me that!" she yelled. Soon enough, Tsunade regained her composure. "Anyways, I just wanted to inform you all this year you're getting students."

Naruto just stared, he had been had become Jounin about a year and a half ago and was yet to get students. A big trademark grin came across his face and while he stayed calm outside, he was jumping up and down and off the walls inside his head, happy as can be that he can finally have a team of his own.

"You're to report to the academy after lunch today to meet your new team. With that said, you are all dismissed." Tsunade said and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto left the building with Sakura next to him, he was grinning like mad. Sakura noticed and couldn't help but smile herself.

"Wow, my own team." Naruto said. "I can't believe it."

"It's quite a shock; Tsunade-sama is actually giving you a team. I just hope you don't get them all killed." Sakura laughed, teasing. Naruto looked at her with semi-hurt eyes but mostly knew it was joke.

"Ha-ha, very funny Sakura-chan." Naruto spat back. "Well, I'll see you later Sakura-chan, I got some things to do before I head to the academy." Naruto took off running while waving to Sakura.

Sakura giggled. "Bye Naruto."

* * *

The morning sun shined brightly over the village. People gathered in the streets, walking into shops, restaurants, and other buildings. They were talking, laughing away without any care in the world, unless they bumped into a twelve year old kid running like if he was being chased by a whole bunch of S-Class missing-nins of some sort. 

"Sorry." The boy kept repeating over and over after every person he accidentally ran into. The boy had spiky, medium length hair with a pair of goggles above his forehead. He wore a white t-shirt with the Konoha leaf symbol on the back as well black shorts. His green eyes shined when the sunlight hit them. Just then, the boy ran into what seemed to be the hundredth person today.

"Ouch, damn it Kurosaki!" yelled a bald older man wearing a white t-shirt and apron.

"Sorry about that sir, I'm in a hurry; I'm going to be late." said the boy.

"Just watch were you're going kid." Said the man still annoyed. With that, the boy bowed and continued running toward the academy.

"Ah man, I'm really late." The boy said. "Of all days, why'd I have to wake up late today?" He continued running and finally reached the academy. He ran into his classroom at high speed to see a man wearing his Chunnin vest over his black shirt. He had on black pants and his brown hair was tied in the pony tail at the back of his head. The man also had a very large scar across his face.

"You're late." Said the man.

"Sorry Iruka-sensei. I woke up late." The boy said apologizing.

Iruka sighed. "It's all right Hiroshi, as long as you're here." Hiroshi smiled as he was glad they hadn't started the class yet.

"I thought you weren't going to make it." Said a boy sitting next to him, "It would have been a shame if you missed today of all days."

"Shut up Shiro." Shiro just laughed. Shiro's rather long raven haired constantly got in the way, so you couldn't tell if he was laughing, smiling or even mad. He wore an unusual white robe that his family always wears along with grey pants. His eyes matched the color of his hair, some of the students were some what afraid of him, but not Hiroshi. Shiro and Hiroshi had been friends since forever since their families lived next door to each other.

"Alright class, you all know what today is." Iruka said. The whole class yelled some sort of word meaning yes. "The final exam will be on the bushin jutsu." The children mingled among themselves, all excited in to pass the final exam so they could become genin, at least that's what they thought.

"Ready for this test Hiroshi?" asked a somewhat shy girl sitting next to him on his left side. Her long lavender hair flowed down just like a waterfall. Her hazel eyes were no match for any of the other girls in the class. She wore a purple shirt underneath her black jacket that had the Konoha swirl on the back while the bottom of the jacket hung loosely over her black pants.

"Yes I am Himawari." said Hiroshi while smiling.

"Alright, when I call your name, please come forward." said Iruka. Iruka read off names, the people went to the front and did their bushin jutsu. Some did excellent, one actually didn't do so great.

"This is going to be simple." Shiro said.

"You said it." replied Hiroshi. Iruka read off more names until he started reading off the K's. Himawari and Hiroshi then gave their full attention to finally he called one of their names.

"Kubo Himawari, you're up." Himawari got up and stood in front of the class and made a hand seal.

"Bushin no jutsu." A cloud of smoke appeared and on both sides of Himawari, two exact replicas of her were standing.

"Congratulations Himawari, you passed." Himawari smiled and walked to the table that contained the forehead protector. A man with silver hair and wearing the traditional Chunin vest over his black shirt handed her one.

"Thank you." Himawari said and walked out the class room. Iruka called two more names and finally got to Hiroshi.

"Kurosaki Hiroshi, you're up." Hiroshi got up from his seat and walked to the front of the class. Hiroshi stood there for a couple of minutes and finally did the hand seal.

"Bushin no justu." Another cloud of smoke appeared and on both sides of Hiroshi, two replicas of himself.

"Very good, you did four clones, double the minimum." Iruka said while clapping.

"Thanks." Hiroshi said walking to the table where the silver-haired man stood and handed Hiroshi a forehead protector. Hiroshi took it and bowed a semi-silent thank you and stared at it.

'_Wow, I did it. I became a ninja, I'll cherish this forehead protector.'_ Hiroshi thought to himself while walking out of the class room. Himawari was waiting for him.

"So you passed eh?" she asked.

"Obviously." Hiroshi responded while showing his forehead protector. Himawari had hers tied around her arm.

"Well, aren't you going to put on your forehead protector?" asked Himawari.

"I will later." responded Hiroshi. Just after saying that Shiro came out of the classroom, holding his forehead protector, smiling evilly while look at Hiroshi. "What?"

"I did five bushins." Shiro finally said. After the final exam was over, Iruka called everybody that passed back inside the classroom. Each student sat down in their chairs and awaited.

"Alright, now that you've all passed, now it's time to announce the teams before lunch." Iruka finally said. He looked down at his clipboard and began reading off a team number and three people to be on that team. It was a slow moving progress, but he was getting there.

"Team eleven, Kurosaki Hiroshi." Hearing his name called, he looked up. "Kubo Himawari and Suzuki Shiro, you three are team eleven." Hiroshi was glad that he'd have his friends as his teammates as well, it would be easier for him.

"Cool, we're a team." Hiroshi said giving a thumb ups to both Shiro and Himawari.

"Team twelve will consist of Kamizuki Ankoku, Botsuraku Aki and Burakku Shinji."

Ankoku was the badass of the class, though he was made fun of because of his lavender hair, but he didn't care. His brown eyes didn't go to well with it, but he still didn't care. He wore a black long sleeve shirt with blue pants. He was the quiet, back of the classroom type kids as well, but the badass type when it came to fighting. Aki had long, strawberry kissed hair; it was quite beautiful on her. It went well with her shimmering blue eyes. She wore a lavender jumpsuit type shirt with black pants. Shinji had messy raven hair, it looked as if hurricane force winds blew at it for days but he obviously didn't care much. His dark brown eyes showed a slight shade of loneliness. He wore a black shirt with black pants, the typical ninja attire.

"I find it amusing that the badass squad stays the badass squad." barked Hiroshi.

Himawari laughed and Shiro just cracked a smile. Iruka finally finished naming the teams and dismissed the class for lunch, but not before assigning each team to a classroom to meet their jounin sensei after lunch.

* * *

After lunch, Hiroshi, Shiro and Himawari reached the classroom their were assigned to so they could wait and meet their jounin sensei. Himawari and Shiro took a seat in the front row while Hiroshi went to the chalkboard and grabbed an eraser. 

"What are you doing?" Shiro asked, slightly annoyed by Hiroshi's actions.

"You'll see." Hiroshi said within an evil chuckle. Hiroshi opened the classroom door slightly and put the eraser near the top and closed the door so the eraser wouldn't fall.

"You really think a jounin is going to fall for that?" Himawari asked, still slightly amused by Hiroshi's actions.

"Hopefully, I need a good laugh." Hiroshi responded. Himawari and Shiro got up from their seat and stood next to Hiroshi looking at the door, waiting for the moment Hiroshi was looking for. Soon enough, a hand reached through the opened space and the door opened, a spiky blonde haired head peaked inside only to have the eraser fall onto the man's head. Hiroshi was about to crack up laughing until the figure vanished in smoke. It was a clone.

"Crap." Hiroshi said, disappointed.

"Thought you could get me with that old trick?" A voice from behind the students said. Hiroshi, Himawari and Shino turned around to see a man with spiky blonde hair wearing and black and orange jumpsuit squatting on the window seal of the open window.

"Well I was hoping." Hiroshi said.

"Please, I did that same trick on my sensei when I first became a ninja. I won't fall for that."

"Damn." That was the only word Hiroshi could say. The blonde man just smiled.

"Come on, we're going to a favorite spot of mine so we can get fully acquainted.

Sitting on top of the fourth Hokage's head were Hiroshi, Shiro, Himawari and their newly appointed sensei.

"Alright guys, I want you three to introduce yourselves." The spiky blonde said.

"Well what do you want to know?" asked Shiro.

"Well the simple stuff, your name, hobbies, goals for the future, stuff like that." said the blonde.

"You go first sensei." Himawari said.

"Alright then, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. My hobbies are eating all types of ramen. And my goal for the future is to become Hokage." The blonde said with a big smile.

"Now let's start with you." Naruto said pointing at Hiroshi.

"My name is Kurosaki Hiroshi; my hobbies are training with my father and brother as well as traveling. My goal is to mainly to become as strong or stronger than my father."

"Interesting Hiroshi, how about you?" Naruto said pointing at Shiro.

"My name is Suzuki Shiro, I don't really have any hobbies and my goal is to make my parents proud of me as a Shinobi."

"Well, that really isn't much of a goal Shiro." Naruto said with some concern.

"I can always develop more later on." Shiro replied.

"Alright, you're next." Naruto said pointing at Himawari.

"My name is Kubo Himawari. My hobby is gardening with my mother and my goal is to become the strongest Kunoichi of all time."

"Well that was great." Naruto said. "Alright, tomorrow morning we will meet up again at the training grounds at five in the morning."

"Five in the morning?" yelled Hiroshi. "Are you freakin' crazy?"

"Five in the morning, that's that." Naruto said and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Son of a, that's too early." Protest Hiroshi, but Naruto reappeared once again.

"Forgot to say, don't eat breakfast, you'll puke." With that said, Naruto left once more.

"Damn it." Was all Hiroshi could say once again.

* * *

Night had fallen on Konoha, and a certain blonde ninja was once again at his favorite ramen bar. Hiroshi walked in and didn't notice Naruto right away until he said something. 

"Hiroshi, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Huh? Oh hey Naruto-sensei. I'm here because my parents were sent on a mission, they left money for me to get food and stuff." replied a semi-upset Hiroshi. Naruto saw it in Hiroshi's eyes, a feeling Naruto knew all to well in his younger days. Loneliness.

"Lonely, eh kid?" asked Naruto.

"A bit, but I'm fine." Hiroshi said with a smile.

"That's good." Naruto responded. The two ate their ramen in silence until Naruto broke the silence.

"You should get home and get some sleep Hiroshi, tomorrow's a big day." Naruto said getting up from his seat placing money on the counter.

"I am Naruto-sensei." Hiroshi said also getting up from his seat placing money on the counter. "See you tomorrow."

Naruto waved him off as Hiroshi headed home. Naruto then turned around and started heading back to his apartment.

'_Hmm, I wonder how much spunk that kid's got. I'll definitely find out tomorrow.'_

* * *

**Hoped you liked it.**


	2. Training Grounds! Naruto's Test!

**Here's chapter 2 of the Introduction Arc.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I wish I did, but I don't and never will.**

**

* * *

2. Training Grounds! Naruto's Test!**

Darkness, it was all around in a room of twelve year old Hiroshi. It was 4:30 in the morning, and the bed nearby began to stir. The blanket was thrown off and Hiroshi slowly sat up with sleep still in his eyes. Hiroshi yawned and groaned and slowly drug himself out of bed.

"Why did Naruto-sensei want us at the training ground at five in the morning?" groaned Hiroshi. "It's too early."

Hiroshi grabbed his clothes and a towel and walked into the bathroom and showered. About fifteen minutes later, he came out fully dressed and ready to go, accept for the fact that he was still awfully sleepy.

"God, it's going to be a long day." Hiroshi said locking the front door. Hiroshi began walking down the empty streets. Passing street lights and closed businesses. Hiroshi found it peaceful as he really never traveled the streets this early in the morning. No noise, it helped him stay in his thoughts even though his face showed as if he was ready for bed. Hiroshi walked about ten blocks until he reached the training grounds, where he found his friends Himawari and Shiro sitting in the grass waiting. Shiro was the first to notice Hiroshi's arrival.

"Yo." Shiro said with a tired voice.

"Yo." Hiroshi said back.

"Morning Hiroshi-kun." Himawari said after hearing Hiroshi talking to Shiro.

"Good morning Himawari-chan."

* * *

The three kids sat there, waited and waited and waited. It was already 7:30 in the morning with the sun rising over the eastern horizon and Naruto still hadn't showed up yet.

"Where the hell is he?" asked a very irritated Hiroshi who was growing impatient with his new sensei.

"He asked us to be hear at five in the morning but he's yet to show up." Shiro added. Himawari just nodded in agreement with Hiroshi and Shiro. Her stomach began growling and she blushed out of embarrassment.

Hiroshi laughed, "It's alright, to be honest, I forgot to eat myself."

"Well, Naruto-sensei told us not to eat breakfast." Himawari said.

"I ate, I don't really care what he said." Shiro added.

Another hour went by and Naruto still hadn't shown up yet. The three ninja were starting to get really impatient. Finally about nine in the morning, Naruto showed his face.

"You're late!" yelled Hiroshi and Himawari in unison.

Naruto laughed while placing his hands behind his head, "Sorry, I over slept."

"Liar." added Shiro. Naruto gave Shiro a death glare and began to speak again.

"Alright, let's get on with this, shall we?" Naruto said. "Today is a survival test."

"Another test?" asked Hiroshi. "Didn't we take one at the academy to become Genin?"

Naruto laughed, "That was just to select candidates for Genin."

"What?" yelled Himawair. "You mean we got to do another test before we become Genin?"

"Exactly, and with this test, there's a sixty-six percent chance you'll fail." Naruto said with a triumphed smile.

"So what's this test anyway?" Shiro asked not amused. Naruto held up two bells.

"Simple, take these bells from me."

"Is that all?" asked Hiroshi, seemly unimpressed.

"Yes and the one who doesn't get the bell will be tied to one of these posts and will not get lunch as well as get sent back to the academy." Naruto said with his usual grin. The three ninja just stayed silent. Naruto couldn't help but laugh inside his head at their stupefied look on their face as if they're were scared and intimidated by the events he just explained.

'_Kids are fun.'_ Naruto thought.

"Alright, when I say go, the test will begin. Oh and by the way, you only have three hours."

"Shit." Shiro muttered.

"Go!" Naruto yelled and the three ninja disappeared.

"_Hmm, they got the hiding part down and that part I forgot to mention."_

* * *

Thirty minutes had passed since Naruto began the bell test and none of his students has yet to make a move.

'_Hmm, I wonder if they got the point of this test yet.' _Naruto thought as he waited for any kind of an attack. Naruto heard bushes rustle nearby and Hiroshi came running at him with a Kunai in hand. As soon as Hiroshi got near Naruto, he grabbed the hand holding the Kunai and stopped his attack.

"Damn it." Said Hiroshi, he then decided to throw a punch but Naruto just blocked it again. Hiroshi got angry when he noticed the bored expression on Naruto's whisker-marked face. Hiroshi then kneed Naruto in the stomach. Naruto groaned but disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Crap, it was a kage bunshin." Hiroshi looked around effortlessly trying to find the real Naruto. "Where the hell is he?"

"Behind you." whispered Naruto who had just appeared and made a hand seal, or at least what looked like one. "Konoha secret technique, Thousand Years of Death!" and Naruto poked Hiroshi in the behind. Hiroshi flew into high into the air and landed on the ground about several feet away. Shiro and Himawari watched in the nearby bushes.

"Now just what the heck was that?" asked Himawari.

"I don't know." Shiro responded.

Hiroshi finally got up after the shock of what just happened.

"What the fuck you pervert?" yelled Hiroshi. Naruto just smiled.

"I'm not a pervert, it's a real technique; look it up when you have a chance." He said.

Hiroshi had enough of it and began doing hand seals. Naruto caught his movements with his peripheral vision.

'_Hand seals? What's he planning?' _Naruto thought.

"Doton: Doryudan!" yelled Hiroshi

"What the fuck, no way you can do that!" yelled a very shocked Naruto, and a huge dragon head made of soil and rock came up and opened up its mouth and began firing out balls of mud. Naruto stood there shocked and didn't move and was hit hard with the mud balls, or that's what Hiroshi thought until the Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Damn it, he never lets down his guard." Just as soon as Hiroshi said that, Naruto appeared to the side of him and punched him, not very hard, knocking him back into the bushes where Shiro and Himawari where hiding.

Hiroshi got up "Well guys, I tested his strength like you guys wanted me too. Looks like we're going to have to work as a team to get those bells, Naruto-sensei is stronger and more alert than I thought."

"Well what do you plan we do?" asked Shiro.

"I don't know yet, we need some sort of distraction so he'll be caught off guard somehow." explained Hiroshi.

"That sounds like a good idea, but what should we do?" asked Himawari. Shiro and Hiroshi looked at each other and then Himawari. She suddenly felt unnerved by their staring and gulped.

"You'll be the distraction and me and Shiro will flank him and get the bells." Hiroshi said with an evil smirk. Himawari was a bit frightened, she just saw Hiroshi, who she thought was the best ninja in their class, get cremed by their sensei without really even trying. She didn't know what she could do to even get Naruto at least a bit distracted.

'_Who would of thought a shrimp like that could do such a powerful jutsu.'_ Naruto thought while waiting for another ambush. Soon enough Himawari appeared in front of Naruto and he smirked.

"I see it's your turn, eh?" asked a semi-enthusiastic Naruto. Himawari just nodded slowly.

'_I think the chick is scared.'_

'**I think so too.' **Said an eerie deep voice

'_Kyuubi, not now.' _Naruto said with annoyance.

'**Fine.'**

Naruto had been slightly pre-occupied with yelling at the Kyuubi to have noticed Himawari was beginning to do hand seals. He didn't come to until he heard the girl yell while standing near him.

"Surio no jutsu!"

"Shit." Naruto yelled and a sphere of water began to form around Naruto.

'_Where the hell did these kids learn these advanced jutsus.'_ Naruto mentally scolded himself for being this slightly careless as if this was a real fight, he'd surely loss.

"Way to go Himawari!" yelled Hiroshi. Himawari immediately let the jutsu go, but before Naruto could react, Hiroshi tackled Naruto to the ground and Shiro managed to come from the other side and grab the bells off his belt. The three ninja stood over the Naruto on the ground and smiled triumphily. Naruto just smirked.

"We did it Naruto-sensei, we go the bells." said Hiroshi smiling greatly.

"You sure did, alright one question before I decide you pass or fail." Naruto said. "What was the point of this exercise then?"

"Teamwork." The three ninja said in unison.

"Very good then, all three pass. Team 11 will go on their first mission tomorrow." Naruto said with a thumbs up and his fox grin.

"You three are dismissed, meet up here approximately eight tomorrow morning where we'll go to the Hokage's office and get our first mission."

"Hai, Naruto-sensei." Hiroshi said. Naruto vanished once again and Hiroshi, Himawari and Shiro left the training grounds. They walked down the street in silence but all three were happy to know all three had officially become Genin. Shiro reached his block first and said his goodbyes in his quit unusual way and headed off. Himawari was next until Hiroshi found himself alone once more and reached his empty house as well.

Hiroshi sighed, "When are they coming home?"

* * *

Naruto was walking down the street whistling, presuming to be heading back to his apartment for some rest. Soon a bit of pink caught his eye and he turned to find Sakura on the other side of the street walking.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" yelled Naruto over the noisy crowd waving his hands trying to get her to notice him. Sakura turned to see Naruto and smiled and motioned for him to come across the street. Naruto wasted no time getting over to Sakura, his speed put the speed of light to shame, all just to spend a little time with the pink-haired Kunoichi.

"Hey Sakura-chan, what's up?" Naruto asked with a big smiled plastered across his face.

"Walking back home to rest, just got done with the test with my students." Sakura answered.

"Hey, me too." Naruto said still smiling like a buffoon. "So what has come of your team?"

"They passed." Sakura said smiling. "Let me guess, yours completely failed and you'll have nothing to do once again."

Naruto got upset and turned his back, but of course he was merely joking. "Well, for your information, my students passed too." Naruto stuck out his tongue after he finished the sentence and Sakura just laughed. She thought he was cute when he did things like that. Sakura finally reached her house.

"Well if you don't mind, I'm going to take a nap before I head back to the hospital to help Tsunade-sama."

"No, not all, have a good nap Sakura-chan." Naruto said smiling and waved her goodbye and treaded back down the street back to his apartment.

* * *

Night had fallen with Naruto walking down the street heading to his favorite ramen bar. When he arrived, he entered the curtains and sat on his normal chair, greeted the old man and ordered his ramen. A few minutes later Hiroshi entered the joint as well, Naruto was surprised to see him again for the second night in a row. Hiroshi ordered and afterwards, Naruto finally spoke up.

"Here again?"

"Yeah, my parents still haven't returned from their mission." Hiroshi said with a hint of sadness and loneliness in his voice while staring at the counter.

"How long was this mission supposed to last?" asked a curious Naruto.

"It was supposed to been a week." Hiroshi said still looking at the counter.

"Supposed to? How long has it been since they left?" Naruto was becoming real concerned for his student.

"It's been a month. When I get a chance, I go and ask Tsunade-sama the status of my parents whereabouts. She never answers me, tells me she's busy and will tell me tomorrow, but she never tells me." Hiroshi said with tears beginning to form. "I'm really worried, Naruto-sensei."

Naruto patted Hiroshi on the head and smiled.

"It's alright." Hiroshi just sat in silence. "I got one more question, who tought you the jutsu you used on me today?"

"Oh that, my father taught me that. My chakra is limited, I can only do one a day, for now." Hiroshi answered slightly happier then answering the questions about his parents. Naruto smiled and the two began eating in silence. Naruto couldn't help but think about Hiroshi and his parents.

'_I'm going to have to talk to Tsunade-baa-chan about Hiroshi's parents tomorrow.' _Naruto thought and while eating his ramen.

* * *

**Another chapter down, yay!**


	3. First Mission and Naruto's Bad News!

**Here's the final chapter in the Introduction Arc.**

* * *

**3. First Mission and Naruto's Bad News!**

The sun hung low in the early morning sky. It was seven thirty, and in an almost quiet house, a creature stirred in the bed nearby. Arose was Hiroshi yawning madly and groaned not wanting to get up from his slumber. After a few minutes of just sitting there with his eyes half closed, Hiroshi finally got up. He took a fifteen minute shower and got dressed quickly. By time he was done it was already 7:50.

Hiroshi sighed, "Guess I'll have to take the rooftops today." He opened the window and climbed out, closed it and began hopping across the rooftops at ninja speed. Hiroshi arrived at the training grounds where he and his teammates took on Naruto the day before with five minutes to spare.

"You made it Hiroshi-kun." Himawari said just as she noticed him arriving.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" asked a slightly annoyed Hiroshi. Himawair just smiled a bit. Shiro showed up about two minutes later.

"Yo." said Hiroshi.

"Yo Hiroshi, hello Himawari-chan." greeted Shiro.

"Good morning Shiro-kun." said a seemingly happy Himawari. There was a couple of minutes of silence between the teammates, but soon enough Naruto showed up.

"It looks like the team is all here today." Naruto said in his usual happy tone and trademark grin.

"You're actually on time today Naruto-sensei." Shiro joked. Naruto just laughed.

"Alright team, to the Hokage building, for our first mission." Naruto said pointing in the direction they were to head in.

* * *

Team eleven reached the Hokage building and went inside. They climbed the forty-million stairs (at least that's what Himawari said how many after she started tiring out) and reached the floor where the Hokage would give out the missions to teams. When they reached the office area, they waited their turn. After a few teams, it was their turn to enter and receive a mission. 

"Ah, Naruto." greeted Tsunade.

Naruto gave his trademark grin, "Hello Tsunade-baa-chan, team eleven is ready for it's first mission."

A vein on Tsunade's head popped out at the 'baa-chan' comment. Instead of beating Naruto senseless, she decided to give them the lamest mission.

"Alright, your team's mission is to get this woman's cat back." Tsunade said pointing at a overweight woman with brown hair, raven eyes wearing a pink dress with her neck covered in necklesses and wrists covered in bracelets. Naruto sighed as he had to get the woman's cat once before.

Naruto snapped, "You like losing your cat, don't you?" Naruto didn't stay to hear the woman's answer; he just walked right out with his students not too far behind him.

"Hey Naruto-sensei, what you mean by what to you told the lady?" asked Himawari.

"Hmm? Oh, that lady is always losing her cat, when I was a Genin I had to get that damned cat on our first mission." Naruto answered.

"We probably got this lame mission 'cause you keep calling Tsunade-sama, 'baa-chan'." hissed Hiroshi. Naruto refused to comment. After going down the ridiculous amount of stairs, team eleven exited the Hokage tower to begin their mission.

"So where do you go to find this cat?" asked Shiro.

"It's probably hiding in the woods behind the lady's house." Naruto answered. Team eleven then made their way to the lady's red house to enter the woods in the surrounding area. Naruto pulled out four radio headsets, he put one on as he gave one to Hiroshi, Shiro and Himawari.

"What's this for?" asked Himawari.

"We're going to split up, so we'll use this for communication to meet back up together once the target has been found and captured." Naruto answered. "Now go." At the sight of hearing 'go', all four disappeared and began looking for the cat.

* * *

An hour has passed since team eleven started their mission on searching for the missing cat. Finally it dawned on Hiroshi, he had no idea what color fur the cat they were looking for was. Hiroshi began talking into his headset. 

"Naruto-sensei, I forgot to ask something, what the hell does this cat look like anyway?" Hiroshi paused for a couple of seconds then Naruto responded.

"It's calico with a red ribbon around it's neck, it's a short hair by the way."

"Hai, arigato Naruto-sensei." Hiroshi said and began searching for the cat once more. While still searching, nearby Himawari heard rustling in the bushes near her and waited. Suddenly, a calico cat, with a red ribbon around its neck ran out.

"Naruto-sensei, I found the cat. I'm in pursuit now."

"Good Himawari." Naruto said ran off to find Himawari. Shiro and Hiroshi heard the report as well and too went in search for Himawari. Himawari continued the chase on the cat. She saw a log nearby and deal a hand seal to transform the log into a ball of yarn in hoping to distract the feline, it worked. The cat was so occupied by the ball of yarn, it did not notice what was to come of it. Himawari grabbed the cat, only to get scratched up like crazy, but she still managed to keep hold on it.

"Target has been captured." reported Himawari.

"Good work Himawari." Said a familiar voice from behind her, she then turned around to find Naruto standing their with a big grin and giving her the thumbs up. Soon Hiroshi and Shiro caught up and joined them.

"Alright, back to the Hokage tower." Naruto said with his cheerful attitude.

* * *

Naruto and his students entered the office where the Hokage assigned the missions to her ninja teams with Himawari holding onto the still struggling cat. The owner ran over to Himawari to take the cat and began smothering it on borderline death. The lady paid the mission fee and walked out. 

"Someone really needs to take that cat away from her. The poor thing isn't running away just because it wants to." Naruto spat. Tsunade chuckled a bit while his students awaited their next mission.

"Well Naruto, good job, it only took your team an hour to get the cat."

Naruto laughed a little in slight embarrassment and pride, "We did what we had to, to get the job done." Naruto then gave Tsunade his famous thumbs up.

"Even though it's early, that was the only D Rank mission for now." Tsunade said.

"Are you serious?" asked Hiroshi who wanted to do some more missions.

"This bites." added Shiro.

"Now, now students, at least we had one mission." Naruto said trying to keep his students from causing trouble.

"Come back tomorrow, I'll have more missions by then for sure." Tsunade said smiling at Naruto's three students.

Hiroshi sighed in defeat, "Alright then." Naruto noticed loneliness crept back to his eyes, he knew Hiroshi wanted to do more missions to keep his mind off his parents' absence. The kid didn't want to go home at all it seemed.

"Hey guys, you're dismissed for today." Naruto said. Hiroshi just walked out without a word. Shiro just through his hand in the air in the traditional, 'see ya' style and Himawari stood for a minute.

"Bye Naruto-sensei." She turned around and walked out the door. Naruto then remembed something and ran out the door quickly.

"Oh, and don't forget, training grounds, eight a.m." Naruto reminded them. Shiro nodded, Himawari smiled and nodded, Hiroshi heard but he didn't turn around, he just kept walking. Naruto watched and sighed and returned to inside the meeting room.

"Tsunade-sama, I need to speak to you in private." Naruto said. Tsunade was taken back, never in her life had Naruto given her the honorifics unless it was something really, really important.

* * *

Naruto waited in Tsunade's office so he could talk to her about what it was that was on his mind. Soon enough Tsunade walked into the office and sat in her chair and stared at the serious face Naruto had painted on him. 

"So, what's the problem?" asked Tsunade.

"It's about Hiroshi's parents." Naruto said right off the bat. Tsunade froze, Naruto noticed it but didn't care to say anything.

"Last night he told me that his parents have been out on a mission," Naruto began, "and that it was only supposed to been a week, and it's already been a month. He also told me every time he asks you about them, you tell him things like 'Sorry, I'm busy' or 'I'll tell you later' and you never do."

Tsunade sighed. She didn't know what to say, so she stayed quiet for a while. Naruto was impatient and spoke up again.

"So tell me, where are his parents?"

Tsunade stayed silent.

"Damn it Tsunade, I'm not bullshitting around here, where are Hiroshi's parents?"

Tsunade sighed in defeat, Naruto obviously cared for his student's well-being, so she had to tell him everything.

"Hiroshi's parents, they're…" Tsunade paused. "They're dead." Naruto's eyes widened.

"What? Why didn't you tell Hiroshi?" yelled Naruto. "The poor boy is lonely as hell and suffering thinking his parents are still away."

"I wanted to tell him, but I just couldn't." Tsunade replied. She spoke up again. "They were on a mission in the Land of Waves; it was a simple trade mission. About four days after I sent them on the mission, I received a message saying a Rogue Ninja and his gang ambushed the Land of Waves trade market, killing two of our Ninja. I sent a couple of ANBU to investigate and it turned out the Ninja were Hiroshi's parents."

"You know who did it?" asked Naruto.

"Well the their leader, who is a rogue ninja from here, only went by the name Totosai." Tsunade answered. "I did some investigating of my own and my findings found that Totosai's real name is Kurosaki Kami, Hiroshi's uncle."

Naruto just stayed quiet for a while, ingesting all the information Tsunade just revealed to him. Finally, he spoke up. "Arigato, Tsunade-sama." Naruto walked out of Tsunade's office, lost in his own thoughts.

'_I have to tell Hiroshi, for his sake.'_ Naruto thought and decided to head over to Hiroshi's house.

* * *

Naruto reached the house where Hiroshi resided. He stood at the sidewalk what could have been an eternity, at least to Naruto, but was only a couple of minutes. He sighed and finally gathered the courage to walk to the door and knocked a few times. Naruto waited until Hiroshi finally opened the door. 

"Naruto-sensei, why are you here?" he asked.

"Can I come in? I've got something important I need to tell you." Naruto answered.

"Uh, sure." Hiroshi got out of the way to let Naruto inside and then he closed the door. Naruto sat on the couch while Hiroshi took a seat nearby. The two stayed quiet for a good five minutes until Hiroshi thought it was time to break the silence.

"So Naruto-sensei, what was it you wanted to tell me?" asked a curious Hiroshi.

Naruto sighed and began. "After you guys left, I went and had a talk with Tsunade."

Hiroshi listened with complete interest, and then decided to interrupt. "What's that got to do with me?"

"Hold on kid, I'm getting to that." Naruto said. "I asked her about your parents." Hiroshi then became impatient.

"What she say?" Hiroshi asked repeatedly about five times.

"How can I say this." Naruto began, "She told me about four days into their mission in the Land of Waves, a rogue ninja and his gang attacked the trade market, killing two of our ninja." Hiroshi then started to get scared. Where was Naruto going with this? Was the two ninja that were killed his parents? Hiroshi wanted Naruto to go on but was so afraid of what he was thinking might be true.

"Those two ninja…" Naruto paused. He noticed the fear and sadness on Hiroshi's face, he didn't want to tell him but he had to, for his sake so he'll know.

"Those two ninja… were your parents." Naruto finally forced out and watched the boy just burst into tears. His fear was true; his parents were dead, killed by the hands of a traitor. After Hiroshi cried for what it seemed to be hours, he looked up with his bloodshot eyes and tear-stained face. His expression wasn't of sadness, it was of anger.

"Who did it?" Hiroshi finally spoke after a while with anger straining in his voice. Naruto paused for a bit. Should he tell him? What if he turns to be spent on revenge and get swallowed up in darkness just like a certain ex-teammate did back in his Genin days? Naruto couldn't make up his mind.

"Who did it, damn it!" Hiroshi demanded. Naruto looked at him and finally came to the decision to tell him.

"Kurosaki Kami." Naruto said. Hiroshi's eyes widened and were consumed with fear, anger. He couldn't believe it, his own uncle killing his parents? Why did he do it? Did he not realize who they were at the time? So many questions flooded his mind, he didn't know what to think.

"A-are you sure?" Hiroshi stuttered.

"Positive, but he goes by the name of Totosai, I guess to escape from Hunter-nins." Naruto spoke. Hiroshi began to cry once again, he couldn't comprehend anything Naruto told him. The sight broke his heart, being alone was the one thing Naruto had always known when he was a kid, seeing another someone else in pain reminded him of his painful childhood. Still, Naruto couldn't compare that to what Hiroshi was going through. Naruto was alone from the start, so he never knew what it felt like to lose someone until _he_ betrayed Konoha.

"I have to tell you something though." Naruto began. "I had a friend, who was my teammate, go through the same thing when he was a kid. His brother killed his entire family but spared him. He set out to avenge his family members death, that eventually lead him to betray Konoha to be trained under our most notorious Missing-nin, Orochimaru. I don't want to you to end up a dark path like that, okay?"

Hiroshi looked at Naruto. "Don't worry Naruto-sensei; I'll get my revenge when the time is right." Naruto smiled a bit.

'_I hope you're right.'_ He thought. "Well, I guess I better get going now." Naruto got up from the couch to head for the door, but Hiroshi spoke up.

"Can-can I spend the night at your place Naruto-sensei? I don't want to be alone." Hiroshi asked. Naruto thought for a bit.

"Well, my apartment is small, I only have one bed and the couch…" Naruto was cut off.

"I'll sleep on the couch, I don't care." Hiroshi said with desperation in his voice. He did not want to be alone, after hearing about his parents' death, it was the last thing he wanted.

Naruto sighed, he knew about being alone so much so he couldn't refuse the boy. "Alright, but you'll need your own pillow and blanket, I'm live alone so I don't have any extras."

Hiroshi didn't waste any time, he rushed up stairs to his room and grabbed a back pack and placed a few change of clothes. Hiroshi then grabbed his pillow and blanket and rushed back downstairs to see Naruto still waiting.

"Okay, I'm ready."

* * *

Naruto and Hiroshi reached the apartment. Naruto took out his key and unlocked the door. The first thing Naruto did was turn out the light to show the small apartment. 

"Dang, it is small." Hiroshi said. Naruto gave him an ugly look in which Hiroshi did not see.

"Now if you're going to complain, I'll send your ass back home you little twerp." Naruto snapped, but only joking. Hiroshi thought he was serious and started stuttering words Naruto really couldn't understand but it caused him to laugh a bit.

Hiroshi made himself at home on the couch while Naruto prepared instant Ramen in the kitchen. Hiroshi decided to speak up.

"Thanks Naruto-sensei, for taking me in today."

"Hey, don't worry about it Hiroshi." Naruto said while bringing a cup of instant Ramen and giving it to Hiroshi. "Besides, I know all to well what being alone is like."

Hiroshi looked at him with curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"While growing up, I didn't have any parents. The village shunned me, called me names, threw rocks at me and kept their children from becoming friends with me. I was alone for a good twelve years before I finally found someone who cared about me. So trust me kid, I know what it's like." Naruto explained.

Night was falling and the two stayed talking for a while. It was nine p.m. and the two were getting hungry again.

"Hey Hiroshi, how about I treat you to some ramen." Naruto spoke up smiling.

"Sure." Hiroshi said. The two walked out of Naruto's apartment, in route to their favorite Ramen bar.

* * *

**Stayed tuned for more.**


	4. Info Mission! Training Along the Way!

**Here's Chapter 4, the first chapter in the Hidden Waterfall Village Arc.**

**Arc Summary:  
Naruto and his team are sent to the Hidden Waterfall Village to get information on Itachi. Naruto, though sceptical about the mission, accepts. When he arrives, the village is in distress and finds someone who he didn't plan on finding.**

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**

* * *

4. Information Gathering Mission! Training Along the Way!**

Naruto and Hiroshi walked down the streetlamp-lit street in silence. Hiroshi was lost in thought about what Naruto had just told him but three hours ago. There were no words that Naruto could find to speak up. After the seemingly long walk, the two reached the ramen bar and entered.

"Hey Naruto, the usual?" greeted the old man. Naruto just nodded.

"I'll have the same he's having." Hiroshi spoke, his first words since they had left Naruto's apartment.

The two sat down to await their meal. Again, silence was among them, finally Hiroshi decided to speak up.

"The other day I saw you walking with a pink-haired girl." Naruto blushed a bit.

"Where you getting at, Hiroshi?"

"I don't know, you just looked so much more happy when you were around her, you know?" Hiroshi answered. Naruto nodded at the boy's observation. Naruto didn't know what to say to that because in a way, it was true. He indeed was happiest when talking and hanging out with Sakura.

"Is she your girlfriend or something?" asked Hiroshi, slightly teasing.

Naruto blushed and began stuttering. "W-well no sh-she's not." He finally managed to get out. Hiroshi chuckled a bit.

"I see that you do like her then through your stuttered answer." Hiroshi slyly replied.

'_Damn, this kid knows how to read people.' _Naruto thought with amazement.

"Kid, like is such a weak word for what I feel for her." Naruto finally spoke.

"You like something more than ramen, now that's a shocker." Hiroshi said sarcastically.

"Hey now!" yelled Naruto. Hiroshi just laughed a bit. He had to admit, he was having fun teasing Naruto to no end.

"Order's up." Said the man place a bowl of hot, fresh ramen in front of his two customers.

"Thank you." Naruto said and began inhaling the noodles as if he hadn't eaten in days. Hiroshi sighed to Naruto's disgusting affection towards the food.

"You should marry the ramen since you love it so much." Spat Hiroshi.

"Only if it's a certain pink-haird girl." Naruto said with a smile.

"If that's the case, then you'd eat her too." Laughed Hiroshi.

Naruto had to think about it for a second. "Yeah, probably." He laughed. What Naruto didn't know was Sakura was passing by at the point to here the familiar voice say 'Only if it's a certain pink-haird girl' which caught her attention. What she heard next sent her into a massive rage. Naruto stiffened up as he sensed something, bad.

"Danger." whispered the now frightened Naruto. Hiroshi heard.

"What?" asked Hiroshi. Then he heard a voice yell out.

"NARUTO, YOU PERVERT!" yelled the seriously pissed off Sakura. Naruto shook violently and slowly turn around with wide eyes only to get a fist in his face. It was a punch so hard it knocked him out of the ramen stand and a few feet down the street.

"Ow." Naruto muffled while face first in the dirt.

Hiroshi just looked in shock.

Sakura just stomped off, stepping all over Naruto and not even caring. After a few seconds, Naruto finally got up. He looked at Hiroshi standing nearby who was still in shock of the brute power the Kunoichi just unleashed on the helpless Jounin.

'_Why did she call me a pervert, I didn't say anything perverted.' _Naruto thought as he remembering what she yelled. Naruto got up and chased after Sakura. Finally, he caught up to her.

"Sakura-chan!" yelled Naruto. She turned around still with her angry expression.

"Don't Sakura-_chan_ me!" Sakura yelled.

"But what did I do? I don't understand why I got a face full of your fist." Naruto whined.

"Don't play stupid with me baka, you know what you did!" Sakura yelled in her still angry voice.

"No I don't know." Naruto answered back. Sakura just turned around.

"Ugh, go away." Sakura said and began walking off. Naruto followed.

"But Sakura-chan…" He was cut off.

"Get the hell away, NOW!" yelled Sakura and walked off again. This time around, Naruto just stood their.

"But…" was all he could get out and in a few minutes, she was out of sight.

* * *

Morning had arrived once more in Konoha. Tsunade began working on her endless supply of paper work and there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Tsunade yelled and the door opened to reveal Sakura, who was still pissed off from last night.

"Ah, Sakura, you've arrived." Sakura nodded. Tsunade noticed something was wrong with her.

"What's wrong?" asked Tsunade.

"Nothing." Sakura lied.

"You're lying."

"Naruto." Was all she said.

"What did the baka do now?" asked Tsunade.

"Being stupid as always." Sakura replied. Tsunade sighed.

"I'll take care of him."

* * *

Naruto woke up to the events of what happened between him and Sakura last night. He still didn't understand why she punched him and called him a pervert. _Why?_ The question kept popping into his head and Naruto was as confused as he ever was. Even while showering, the question plagued him like a cough that just won't give up and last for weeks. Naruto sighed.

'_I need to take my mind off this now.'_ He thought.

Naruto walked into the living room to find Hiroshi still asleep on the couch. At first Naruto wondered why he was here in the first place, but remembered about what happened yesterday. For once, Naruto didn't make instant ramen, instead he made some toast. Hiroshi finally woke up and found Naruto in the kitchen.

"Naruto-sensei?" Naruto turned around.

"What's up?"

"What are you doing?" Hiroshi asked.

"Making toast, you want some?"

"My god, you actually eat other foods?" asked a rather shocked Hiroshi. Naruto couldn't help but laugh. Hiroshi was actually truly surprised to see him eating something else that wasn't ramen.

After breakfast, the two left Naruto's apartment to head for the training grounds for his team's next training session. The two walked down the lively street in silence once again, but this time Hiroshi spoke up.

"So what are doing today, Naruto-sensei?"

"A training exercise." Naruto answered.

"You mean, no missions today?" asked a disappointed Hiroshi.

"No today, this next training exercise is very important." Naruto responded. Hiroshi sighed.

Another ten minutes of walking and the two had reached the training grounds where Team Eleven meets. Standing and waiting at the grounds where Himawari and Shiro, happy to finally see their sensei had arrived.

"Good morning Himawair and Shiro." Said Naruto.

"Good morning Naruto-sensei." Himawari said. Shiro just nodded. Shiro noticed that Hiroshi came with Naruto, usually he was here with Himawari before himself.

"So, what's the plan today, Naruto-sensei?" asked Himawari.

"An important training exercise." Naruto responded. "So if you're ready, we're going outside the village for this exercise."

Suddenly a puff of smoke appeared. Naruto turned around. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a muscular man in his late 30s. He had silver hair that pretty much stood straight up. His Konoha forehead protector covered his left eye. He wore the usual Jounin vest with a black shirt and a dark blue mask covering most of his face only revealing his right eye.

"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said surprised to see his old sensei. "What are you doing here?"

"Tsunade-sama asked me to come get you, she has urgent business with you." The silver-haired man said.

"Tsunade-baachan?" Naruto said kind of surprised. "I told her no missions for us today; I need to train my team in Chakra control."

"Don't tell that to me. Tell that to Tsunade-sama." After he spoken, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Naruto sighed.

"Damn it."

* * *

About fifteen minutes after Kakashi had passed the message on to Naruto that he and his team were needed at the Hokage's office, Naruto knocked on the door a few times.

A faint "Come in." was heard and Naruto opened the door and he and his team entered the room.

"What did you want Baachan?" Naruto said in an annoyed tone. Tsunade didn't seem to be affected by Naruto's pet name this time around.

"I'm sending you and your team on an information gathering mission."

"What?" Naruto yelled in protest. "I told you my team was not to get missions today!"

"Yeah, well all the other teams are busy with their missions, and you're the only team left without one." Tsunade answered back. Naruto knew there was no getting out of this one.

"Damn it." Naruto groaned. "So what's this information gathering mission?"

"There has been a report that Itachi had been spotted around the Village Hidden in the Waterfall." Tsunade answered. Naruto looked at her funny.

'_What the fuck? I thought they stopped trying to track down Itachi'_ Naruto thought.

'_The baka knows something is fishy about this mission.'_ Tsunade thought after seeing Naruto's facial expression. "I want you to go to the Village Hidden in the Waterfall to see if they know where he might be."

"After all these years of not going after him, why now?" asked Naruto.

"Because the smaller villages have come to use saying he's killed. He's in high demand to be killed, so I've decided to pursue him once more and find a way to kill him." Tsunade said.

"So when do we leave?" asked Naruto.

"In an hour."

* * *

An hour had passed and Team Eleven met up at the gate. The three nodded and walked out of the village heading in the direction to their destination, the Village Hidden in the Waterfall. After a couple of hours of traveling, Naruto decided it was time to train him in the area he wanted to train them today, without the interruption of a mission.

"Why'd we stop Naruto-sensei?" asked Shiro.

"Well, we've traveled far enough from the village for today. So I thought we'd get to that training exercise that I wanted to do with you today." replied Naruto.

"But we're on a mission." Himawari added.

"The mission can wait; it's just a stupid information gathering mission. It's not like we're needed for a fight or something." Naruto said.

"What's this exercise then?" asked Hiroshi who had been quiet since they had left Konoha.

"A Chakra control exercise." Naruto said, then pointed at three trees. "I want you to climb those trees."

The three Genin looked at the trees and laughed.

"Are you kidding? That's easy." Hiroshi said. Naruto grinned.

"I want you to climb those trees, without using your hands."

"What?" yelled the three Genin in unison.

"It's simple; focus your Chakra to your feet." Naruto said. The three Genin groaned and gulped. It wasn't going to be as easy as they originally thought. Naruto grinned, he was having fun watching them have their cocky attitude destroyed in a matter of seconds.

"And one more thing, use a Kunai to mark your progress."

The three Genin stood in front of a tree they were going to attempt to climb. They stood in silence and focused their Chakra to their feet and charged at the trees and began climbing up. About a couple of steps up, Hiroshi fell. Himawari made it a little further than Hiroshi and Shiro made it to the first branch.

Naruto grinned and decided to speak up. "Here's a hint. If you put too much Chakra, you'll crack the bark and fall. If you don't use enough, you'll fall without even having gone a foot up the tree."

Hiroshi and Himawari cleared their minds of all foreign thoughts and concentrated. Soon enough they ran all the way to the top of the tree. Shiro was still trying his hardest.

'_Hmm, it looks like Hiroshi and Himawari have great Chakra control. Shiro, he's struggling a bit.' _Naruto thought as he observed his students.

"Good job Hiroshi and Himawari. Keep practicing to you mastered this exercise."

For a good hour, Hiroshi and Himawari practice and perfected the exercise, but for them, they were exhausted as they were low on Chakra.

"Okay, Hiroshi and Himawair, you two can rest now. I don't need you to use up all your Chakra now." Naruto said, glancing over at Shiro who was half way up the tree. Finally Shiro went up to Himawair and Hiroshi.

"Hey, you two are good at this. How is this done?" he asked.

Naruto grinned. _'Finally, he got the idea.'_

* * *

Night had fallen; Hiroshi, Himawari, Shiro and Naruto were sitting around a campfire.

"Well today was a great accomplishment. You all mastered the Chakra control exercise, well at least one of them anyway." The three Genin groaned and Naruto laughed. "But don't worry; we'll do the other one another day."

The three Genin sighed in relief, they didn't want to do another one of these control exercise, they were exhausting, at least to them they were.

"You three should get sleep, you need the rest. Tomorrow we'll reach the village." Naruto said and climbed up a tree to keep watch.

* * *

**More to come.**


	5. A Village in Distress!

**Second chapter to be added today.**

**Anyways, here's Chapter 5, the second chapter in the Hidden Waterfall Village Arc.**

**Disclamier: I don't own Naruto**

**

* * *

****5. A Village in Distress!**

Naruto lay, snoring while perched up against the tree he sat in to keep watch over the young Genin as they slept. The sun's early morning rays where filtering themselves through the canopy. They began tickling Naruto's face causing his eyes to squint in his sleep before waking up. He realized he had fallen asleep and cursed himself of not being careful. However he was relieved when he saw Hiroshi, Himawari and Shiro sleeping peacefully on the ground. Naruto still continued to curse himself though, he was supposed to be looking out for the young Genin, but he fell asleep and they could have been easily killed by enemy nin while he was sleeping peacefully in a nearby tree. Naruto stretched and finally jumped out of the tree and walked up to the sleeping ninja. He shook each one and they all groaned.

"Wake up, we're leaving so we can get to the Hidden Waterfall Village today." Naruto calmly said.

Himawari was the first to get up, despite the fact she didn't want to. She yawned like crazy and finally stood up. Shiro was awake to but didn't want to physically get up and stand. Hiroshi, however, rolled over and fell back to sleep. Naruto sighed seeing this. He walked up to Hiroshi again and shook him a bit harder.

"Get up, we're leaving." Naruto said, slightly annoyed. For unknown reasons to him, he woke up grouchy. Also he had this weird feeling something bad was going to happen today and he couldn't quite understand why he was feeling this. It was only an information gathering mission, there wasn't going to be any fighting of any kind. It was just a simple mission, asking questions to the villagers on the reports of where Itachi came from or where he might have been going.

Shiro finally got up after lying for about ten minutes. Hiroshi still was fast asleep. Naruto was starting to get pretty ticked off, he wanted to leave already, yet the lazy ass kid, as Naruto put it in his head, wasn't getting up. Naruto bent down.

"Get up now!" yelled Naruto right into Hiroshi's ears scaring him out of his slumber. Hiroshi quickly got up.

"What the hell!" he yelled in a panic. He turned to see Naruto standing by him laughing. "What's the hell's so funny?"

"You." replied Naruto. Hiroshi just groaned. "Alright, we're heading out now. We should reach the village by noon."

Naruto and his Genin team began their journey once more.

* * *

The sun was high in the sky. Naruto and his team continued to walk. Naruto felt he was getting closer to the village as the area looked familiar. He remembered the one time he came here, to escort its young, coward leader Shibuki. 

'_Man that was a long time ago.' _Naruto thought with a slight chuckle. Hiroshi heard it.

"What are you laughing at now, Naruto-sensei?"

"Just remembering back when I was twelve and came here on an escort mission, that's all." Naruto answered.

"So you been here before?" asked Himawari.

"Yeah, just the one time, the memory is a vague and small in details."

Naruto suddenly stopped; a chill went down his spine. Something in the air was telling him something wasn't right. His three Genin stopped as well, wondering what was wrong.

"Why'd we stop?" Shiro asked with a bored tone.

"Something here doesn't feel right." answered Naruto.

"What do you mean?" Himawari asked, confused.

"I can't quite explain it, all I know, is I have a bad feeling about this mission." Naruto replied.

Naruto wasn't the one to be scared so easily, but this feeling was overwhelming. Then it hit him, the only time Naruto was this 'unpleasant', as Naruto puts it, was when he was about to fight, _him _or knowing he was around. Then it confused him more because he knew _he_ wasn't around, Naruto knew. Suddenly he heard slight sobbing, so he started walking to the direction he heard it.

"Naruto-sensei?" Hiroshi said and followed him.

The cries got louder and to Naruto, they sounded like they were coming from a woman. Sure enough, there was a female sitting on the ground with her head buried in her knees sobbing.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked. The woman looked up with her tear-stained face. Her brown eyes were blood-shot and the front of her long brown hair was messed up a bit. Her blue shirt looked a bit wet around the neck signifying she had been crying for quite awhile. She wore a forehead protector that symbolized a waterfall. She took note at Naruto's forehead protector.

"You're a Leaf nin, right?" she asked in a strained voice.

"Yeah, so what's wrong?" asked Naruto.

"Some man, attacked the village." She answered.

"Attacked?"

"Yeah, he's still there, trying to pry information out from Shibuki about some other man. Please, you got to help us, he's very strong." The woman said.

"Well we did come here on a information gathering mission, I guess I could give a hand." Naruto answered.

"Thank you, thank you." The woman said. She got up and motioned Naruto and his team to follow her.

"I hope you're strong enough." She said guiding them to her village.

"Well I'm a Jounin, so I'm sure I am." Naruto reassured her with his trademark grin and an thumbs up. She smiled a bit.

The woman led them behind the waterfall into a cave filled with pools of green colored water. The three Genin were amazed.

"So the village is through this cave?" asked Shiro.

"Sort of." the woman replied stopping at the largest of the green pools. "We have to swim through this first."

The woman jumped in with Naruto following. Hiroshi, then Himawari, then Shiro all jumped in afterwards.

* * *

"Please stop it! We don't know anything!" yelled an old woman wearing a white and purple dress. 

"Shut up." Said a man standing nearby in a cold voice and slapped her out of his way. His target, was a man in his early 30s. He had dark brown hair with some of his bangs covering part of his forehead protector. He wore a dark green collared shirt with a black t-shirt underneath. He had an angry expression on his face, but fear as well.

"I don't know anything about this man you're seeking!" yelled the man.

The man hovering over him and messy raven colored hair. He wore a light blue robe shirt that bared his chest. He had on dark blue sweat pants and had a ridiculously oversized rope belt and a sword entangled with the bow on his lower back.

"I know he passed by here, where'd he go." said the cold voice belonging the man.

"I told you, I don't know who you're talking about." yelled the man lying on the ground.

The raven haired had enough of the games and grabbed the man on the ground by the neck and lifted him into the air.

"I'll ask you one last time, where'd he go."

* * *

A brown-haired woman's head appeared out of the green water, followed by Naruto's and his team. Hiroshi noticed the huge tree behind them and then village on the shore. He saw two men. One standing and had the other one held up into the air by his neck. Naruto immediately recognized the man in blue and his eyes widen. 

"Sasuke…" he whispered to himself. Himawari, who was right next to him, heard.

"Who?" she asked but Naruto didn't hear her. Naruto jumped out of the water and landed back on top of it.

"Whoa, he can walk on water!" Hiroshi said with surprise. Naruto didn't take any notice to him. The woman with him, however jumped out too and stood next to Naruto, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Do you know that man who's about to kill Shibuki?" asked the woman.

"Yes, my ex best friend and ex teammate, Sasuke Uchiha." answered Naruto in a scared, angry and saddened tone.

* * *

"I guess I'll just have to kill you then." Said Sasuke and pulled out his sword. Shibuki closed his eyes about to see death until he heard an angry scream. 

"Sasuke!" yelled Naruto and grabbed onto the arm that was holding up Shibuki, crushing it 'til Sasuke let go. When Sasuke did, Naruto punched him in the face with full force sending Sasuke crashing into the ground and skid for a few feet. Shibuki immediately recognized who was standing before him.

"N-Naruto?"

"Yes, that's me." He grinned. He turned his attention to the woman and his Genin. "Hiroshi, Himawari and Shiro, help the lady over their guard Shibuki, okay?"

Shibuki got up to get out of the way with the woman that guide Team Eleven to the village and the Genin who stood guard and watched.

Sasuke recovered from the punch and stood back up and stared down Naruto with Naruto staring back.

"Dobe."

"Teme."

"Why are you here?" asked the cold voice of Sasuke. "Hope not to try to convince me to return to Konoha."

"I could ask you the same thing." Naruto answered. "I'm here on a mission, I wasn't expecting you, of all people, to be here teme."

Sasuke let out a cold laugh. "Ignorant."

"Shut up asshole. Just leave here."

"Not without killing you first." Sasuke replied and ran at Naruto at high speed and throw Shuriken at him. They made contact, only for Naruto to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"What?" said Sasuke.

"It's been a while since our last fight, I've grown much stronger since then." A voice yelled from no where.

"Come down here and fight me like a man, dobe!."

"Gladly." Naruto said and kicked Sasuke in the back causing him to fall forward to the ground. Sasuke then used the fall to twirl a kick to knock Naruto off his feet, but again Naruto disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

"Damn it, another kage bushin." Sasuke was starting to get annoyed.

Naruto appeared on top of a tree branch high up on the tree, but visible to everyone.

"You're not going to win this fight this time Sasuke. I'm far above you know. Since you killed Orochimaru, your strength has stayed the same all those years, I only continue to get stronger as I still learn new things." Naruto taunted. Sasuke disappeared and appeared behind Naruto.

"Is that so, well you'll die here and now." Sasuke pulled out his sword and stabbed Naruto, and again it disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Before Sasuke could respond, two more Naruto kage bushins kicked Sasuke into the air while the real Naruto appeared and slammed his foot into his face. Sasuke landed hard on the ground. Naruto jumped to the ground nearby and looked at him just lying there.

"You may have gotten the best of me times before, but those are all over now." Naruto said. Sasuke let out his cold laugh again and got to his feet.

"I've always been stronger than you, you'll just lose here again." Sasuke said.

"We'll how about we take this fight up a notch then, teme." Naruto replied.

The two stared each other down, the real fight was just about to begin.

"This is bad." Shibuki said watching the two.

* * *

**Hoped you like it, more to come.**


	6. Full Fight! Naruto vs Sasuke!

**Here's the next chapter, the third chapter of the Waterfall Village Arc. Enjoy**

* * *

**6. Full Fight! Naruto vs. Sasuke!**

The big tree hovering over the green-watered lake blew in the light wind as the intent to kill was in the air. Standing on the shore was Naruto staring down Sasuke. It had been about five years since their last encounter, and once again Naruto failed to beat Sasuke into his senses but Naruto, being who he is, will not give up.

'_I'm not holding back anymore. Today I am bringing his him home.' _Naruto though still giving Sasuke his 'I'm going to kick your ass so hard' look. Finally Sasuke broke the silence with a bored chuckle.

"You have failed to beat me and you never will. I'm not going to bother using the my Sharingan since you're so pathetic."

"You really don't know what you're going up against." Naruto replied. "I've learned a few more techniques in the past five years."

"So what?" Sasuke replied coldly. "You're still going to lose dobe."

Naruto didn't reply and made a hand seal.

"Kage no bunshin jutsu!" he yelled and dozens upon dozens of Naruto's appeared.

"The same old tricks." Sasuke replied and began attack all the clones charging at him.

One after the other, Sasuke dodged, and reduced each clone to smoke, but it was all part of Naruto's plan as he threw a Shuriken at him. Sasuke dodged them easily. The Shuriken then transformed into a Naruto clone, which Sasuke didn't know, and slowly crept up from behind. Sasuke was too busy messing with the clones to realize the next onslaught. The clone kicked Sasuke in the back and up into the air. Sasuke was shocked he was caught off so easily. Then standing on a branch above him another clone jumped off and plunged its foot into Sasuke's face. Sasuke fell into the ground hard only to be picked up by another clone and was swung around and he flew through the air. The real Naruto was waiting with a smirk and pumped Chakra into his fists. Sasuke tried to stop himself but no such luck. The fist connected to Sasuke's face and he fell into the water. Naruto stood and waited. Sasuke jumped out of the water and did seals.

"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!" and fire began pouring around Naruto. Sasuke smirked as he thought he had got Naruto, but once the fire cleared Naruto wasn't anywhere to be found.

'_What? He dodged it!' _Sasuke thought to himself shocked.

"You're going to have to do better than that teme." Naruto yelled. The voice just echoed and Sasuke couldn't figure out where he was.

"Kage no Bushin Jutsu!" Naruto said to himself and more clones went after Sasuke.

* * *

Hiroshi, Shiro Himawari, the woman Waterfall ninja and Shibuki all watched the fight that was unfolding. 

"Hmm, Naruto's giving this guy a run for his money." Shiro said while observing the fight.

"I always thought he just some cheerful goof ball." added Himawari.

"Come on guys, he's is a Jounin after all." Hiroshi said defending his sensei.

"Well this is the first time he's actually fought an opponent." Himawari replied. "I didn't think he'd be so, um, a step ahead of the enemy."

* * *

Sasuke turned around to see he was completely surrounded by clones. He took out a Kunai and threw it at a clone, the rest jumped in. Sasuke got onto one of his hands for a spinning kick to knock out a few more. One managed to get by and kicked his hand and Sasuke fell onto the ground. Sasuke was face first in the ground but quickly turned over. He glanced above to find Naruto standing on a branch of the large tree just staring with a bored expression, which pissed off Sasuke. He quickly got up only to fall into a trap. A few of Naruto's clones grabbed him and held him still and for some strange unknown reason to him, he couldn't get lose. Naruto jumped down to the ground. Sasuke continued to stare while Naruto regained his posture. Anger and a little trace of hate where visible in Naruto's eyes while Sasuke's held embarrassment of him falling into a trap of Naruto's of all people. Naruto held out his hand with his fingers bent as if he was going to cup something with his hands. Blue Chakra began spinning around in his hands creating a spiraling sphere of Charka. Naruto charged at Sasuke. 

"Rasengan!" He yelled and plunged the spiraling Chakra ball into Sasuke's abdomen. The clonse dispersed and Sasuke was engulfed in a light and sent flying through the air and hit the trunk of the big tree.

"See Sasuke," Naruto yelled. "I'm on a whole new level now."

Sasuke managed to find the strength to get up.

'_But he's still a tough opponent.'_ thought Naruto.

"You've outsmarted me enough." Sasuke said with no emotion. "Now it's my turn."

* * *

Hiroshi, Shiro and Himawari stood stunned at seeing this jutsu Naruto just handed Sasuke. They couldn't believe their eyes. They just couldn't believe their sensei knew such a powerful jutsu. 

"That was cool." Hiroshi said. "What was that technique?"

"I don't know." answered Shiro. "But it was definitely something powerful."

"Naruto-sensei, he's stronger then he lets on." replied Himawari.

'_This can't be the same annoying brat that came here 13 years ago.'_ Shibuki thought watching Naruto's escalading fight with Sasuke.

"What else techniques does he know?" asked the woman waterfall ninja.

"We don't know." replied Hiroshi. "When we fought him in our bell test, he didn't do much, just Taijutsu."

* * *

Sasuke made hand seals and electric-type Chakra formed in his hands. With his left hand he pulled out his Katana and forced the Chakra into the blade. The blade started glowing and electricity surrounded it. Sasuke smirked and charged, slicing Naruto with it. 

"Naruto-sensei!" yelled Himawari as she watched her sensei get sliced to bits.

"It's all over dobe." Sasuke said with confident triumph, but it quickly disappeared win the Naruto he sliced down turned into a log.

"He used the replacement technique." Sasuke said to himself.

Sasuke walked up the log only to have Naruto behind him with a Kunai to his neck. Sasuke froze at this.

"See, I'm one step ahead of you now."

Sasuke just ignored it and elbowed Naruto in the stomach only to disappear in a cloud of smoke. The Kunai, however was real and fell on the ground. Sasuke barely noticed the exploding tag wrapped around it.

'_Shit.' _Sasuke thought and jumped. The Kunai exploded, the blast ricocheted Sasuke into the ground where he slid a few feet.

"Damn it." Sasuke said while coughing up dirt and dust. He struggled to get up but he did. Sasuke stood and awaited the cloud of dust to clear. Once it did, Naruto was standing with the same expression he had been giving the whole fight so far. Sasuke charged at Naruto and the two began a Taijutsu match. Naruto dodged a first few punches before getting a fist in the face, Naruto used it against Sasuke. He fell on his hand and he used it to prop himself for a spinning kick which connected with Sasuke's ribs causing him to spin around into the ground. Sasuke grabbed a Kunai and threw it at Naruto. The Kunai made contact on Naruto and Naruto disappeared.

'_Another fucking kage bunshin, I should of known.' _Sasuke mentally cursed himself until he felt a kick in the back. In mid air Sasuke turned around to throw more Kunai to find nobody was behind him.

"What the..?" was all he could say before he was kicked again from behind. This happened a few more times before finally a foot connected to his face and was brought down to the ground extremely hard. Sasuke struggled to get back up bit did.

'_How did the dobe get this strong? I'm going to have to use my Sharingan after all.'_ Sasuke thought.

* * *

"I just can't believe my eyes." Hiroshi said. "Naruto-sensei just keeps on tricking Sasuke and landing blows." 

"He's barely fighting back." added Shiro.

"The bastard is so sure of himself that he'll win that he's not trying and it's becoming his downfall." Shibuki cut in.

They continue to watch the fight as Sasuke struggles to get up and regain his posture.

* * *

"Alright dobe, looks like you've proven to have gotten really stronger since our last encounter." Sasuke said. "But you still can't win against my Sharingan." 

"Oh yeah teme?" Naruto replied. "We'll just see about that."

"Suit yourself." Sasuke said. "It's your funeral dobe."

Sasuke closed his eyes. A few seconds later he opened them again, this time his raven turned into red yes with three coma-shapped black spots circling a small black pupil on both eyes.

"Now I'll be able to see everything that comes my way."

'_That's what you think. I have a new technique that even that's so fast the Sharingan will have a hard time to pick it up.'_ Thought Naruto, _'But I'll need the right time to use it.'_

"Well I'm waiting." Sasuke said with his Sharingan now activated.

* * *

"Sharingan? What the hell is Sharingan?" asked Hiroshi. 

"I have no idea." replied Shibuki.

"I read about the Sharingan." Spoke up Shiro. "But all I know is it's a Keke Genkai from the Uchiha clan that once resided in Konoha, 'til one member slaughtered the whole clan leaving only one behind that became an S-Class Missing-nin 12 years ago."

"Then that missing-nin must be this Sasuke Naruto's fighting." Spoke the woman kunoichi.

"They seem to have battle before." Hiroshi said recalling what they've said earlier in the fight.

"Naruto-sensei has survived each time." Himawari replied.

"I don't know what they have between each other, all I know this is getting serious now." Shiro added.

"I don't like where this is going at all." Shibuki said.

They continued to watch as Sasuke stood, with his Sharingan waiting for Naruto to make his next move. That's when he looked over and saw Hiroshi, Himawari and Shiro watching nearby, all having Konoha forehead protectors. Sasuke smirked.

'_If he won't come out by himself, I'll use the kids to force him out.'_

Sasuke began walking towards them.

"Oh shit, he's coming over here!" yelled Hiroshi now with fear rising inside his veins. He didn't know what expect next.

* * *

**More to come, so stay tuned.**


	7. Hiroshi's Bold Move!

**I've returned for another chapter, enjoy.**

* * *

**7. Hiroshi's Bold Move!**

As Sasuke walked towards Hiroshi, Shiro, Himawari and Shibuki, Shibuki got in front of them with a Kunai in hand even though he knew he was no match for the Uchiha. He sighed and swallowed all fear he had in his body and went into a defense stance. Shibuki wasn't about to let the three Genin become part of a battle that was supposed to be just between the Leaf Ninja and the Missing-nin. Sasuke got closer.

"Stay away!" yelled Shibuki. Sasuke just smirked and appeared behind him, in front of the three Genin. Hiroshi's eyes widened.

"Wh-what?" stuttered Hiroshi. Shiro stood beside Hiroshi, though he was just as scared. Himawari was standing behind them, she couldn't move, she was frozen with fear. Sasuke smirked and picked up the kid by the neck.

"H-hey, let me go!" protested Hiroshi. Sasuke just stared. He wasn't going to hurt the kid, for reasons unknown to him, he couldn't really harm people he never met before, but he wanted Naruto out of hiding, so he was going to use the boy as a way to get Naruto out of hiding. Soon his grip on Hiroshi tightened a bit. What Sasuke didn't see coming was when Hiroshi pulled out a Kunai and stabbed Sasuke in the hand that was holding him up by the neck. This caused Sasuke to let go and focus on stopping the bleeding. Taking this advantage, Hiroshi went through some seals.

"Doton: Doryudan!" yelled Hiroshi. A dragon head made of earth rose from the ground and opened its mouth and fired out balls of earth. Sasuke quickly looked up after hearing Hiroshi yell to see the earth flying at him.

'_How does this kid know a advance Jutsu as this?'_ Thought Sasuke as he maneuvered to dodge the attack and land perfectly back on the ground in the same spot he stood just seconds before.

"Damn it, he dodged it." Hiroshi said to himself, "I can't do another one."

"I'll give you the fact you know an advance Jutsu." Sasuke spoke up, "But you were a fool."

Up in the huge tree looking at, a blond ninja had watched what had take place.

'_Damn it Hiroshi, you had the advantage but you had to yell out the attack.'_ Thought Naruto and sighed; _'Now I've got to come out of hiding to save you.'_

Sasuke walked over to Hiroshi who couldn't think of anything to do now. He used his most powerful Jutsu, but his limit already reached. Sasuke grabbed him by the throat again with his other hand.

"I dare you to stab me again." Sasuke taunted. Hiroshi stared, he knew if he did, the man holding him would be able to see it coming and be able to stop it. Hiroshi struggled but it was no use.

"Naruto-sensei, where are you?" he said to himself.

"Naruto, I'll kill the kid if you don't get out her." Sasuke lied, but said it in a believable tone. He turned his head to the left just for a second and Naruto appeared and stabbed the arm holding Hiroshi with several Kunai. Sasuke yelled out in pain and dropped the kid instantly. Sasuke painfully pulled out the Kunai that were sticking out of his arm. He held it while trying to figure out how Naruto just appeared without him sensing it.

"Don't bring the kid in this fight." Naruto stated, "It's just between you and me."

Sasuke chuckled, "I had to find a way to bring you out of hiding. I had no intention of hurting the kid. It would be a waste of my time."

If Naruto was the same knucklehead ninja he was years ago, he would of snapped in anger, but that Naruto had grown into the Jounin he was today. Sure the comment was still appalling, but he wasn't going to get bent out of shape like he used back when he was a Genin, instead he just stared at Sasuke with the same expression he held at him through the fight.

"At a loss of words, dobe?" taunted Sasuke as he activated his Sharingan once more.

Naruto smirked, "Your Sharingan won't help you know."

"Don't make me laugh." Sasuke replied, "With my Sharingan, you won't even lay another fi.." Naruto disappeared and reappeared right behind Sasuke without him even able to see.

"What the fuck?" Sauske stated plainly.

"I told you, your Sharingan won't help you know." Naruto said boldy as he gathered Chakra into his hand.

"How the hell did you do that?" asked Sasuke who was still in a state of shock.

"I'm not telling you that, teme." Naruto replied as handing Sasuke his attack into his back.

"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled slamming his palm into Sasuke's back. The pain was intense as the Chakra burned through his shirt. Sasuke was engulfed in a bright blue light and sent flying through the air hundreds of feet.

"N-Naruto-sensei." Hiroshi finally muttered out.

"It's alright, he did good taking the advantage that you did." Naruto praised him, "But later, I'll have to tell you something important about attacking."

Hiroshi just simply nodded as Naruto turned his attention back to the Uchiha. While Naruto was talking to Hiroshi, he didn't notice Sasuke got up and disappeared.

'_Damn it, he shouldn't have gotten up from that one.'_ Naruto thought scanning the area for any trace of Sasuke. _'Where the hell did he go?'_

"**Calm down. Let me take over, and I'll sniff him out." **Kyuubi spoke up listening to Naruto's thoughts.

'_Not yet, it's too soon.'_ Naruto told Kyuubi.

Kyuubi sighed in disgust, **"Baka, you're going to need me."**

After that statement, Naruto just started to ignore the Kyuubi and put focus back on finding Sasuke. Before Naruto could continue, Sasuke appeared in front of him with a lightning Chakra induced sword and stabbed Naruto through the chest.

"Naruto-sensei!" cried Himawari watching the horror unfolding. Hiroshi and Shiro's eyes widened but could find no words to say.

"My god." was all Shibuki could mutter out. A wave a relief hit team seven when Naruto dispersed into a cloud of smoke revealing a log. Sasuke just stood there.

'_What? He used the Kamawari Jutsu. How did the Sharingan not see that coming?'_ Sasuke contemplated. Naruto appeared behind Sasuke and slammed a kick on the wound left by the Rasengan with the pain bringing Sasuke to his knees.

"For years I've been working on a technique that could move me at the speed of light." Naruto spoke, "I call it Kousoku no Jutsu."

Sasuke struggled to get back up and Naruto continued.

"It's so fast that Sharingan can't trace the movement nor copy it." Sasuke finally got to his feet as Naruto continued.

"That's why your Sharingan won't work."

Sasuke just turned around to land a blow to Naruto's face but Naruto disappeared and reappeared behind Sasuke again and kicked under his feet to make Sasuke fall face first into the dirt. Sasuke then quickly struck a blow into Naruto's stomach with his right foot, jumped up quickly and punched Naruto in the face. Naruto fell back the ground. Sasuke took his sword and pointed it down at Naruto and tried to stab him, Naruto rolled over and tried to trip Sasuke again but he jumped and tried to stab Naruto once more. Naruto quickly took out a Kunai to hold off the sword. Sasuke was slowly winning as Naruto's strength in keep the sword back was failing.

"I will kill you." Sasuke said coldly. Naruto just looked up, with his strength about at its limit to holding a sword with a mere Kunai, he was actually accepting the fact death was on its way. Hiroshi, Shiro, Himawari and Shibuki just stood there, helpless until Hiroshi got in front of everyone and went through seals.

'_I have to try to save Naruto-sensei, so here we go, Doton: Doryudan,' _Hiroshi thought. To everyone's surprise, a dragon head surfaced from the ground and began shooting out balls of solid earth. Naruto saw it from the side.

"Any last words before I kill you, dobe?" asked Sasuke. Naruto waited a bit longer until the attack was close enough that Sasuke couldn't dodge. "Well?"

"Yes, I do." Naruto started, "This next one's going to hurt."

Sasuke just look at him with confusion, "Huh?" and the solid earth hit Sasuke, pushing him into a stone structure nearby. Naruto proceeded to get up as Hiroshi collapsed from exhaustion of using too much Chakra, Naruto looked over.

"Hiroshi, you took a big risk of Chakra depletion by doing that Jutsu twice."

"S-sorry Naruto-sensei, but I had to do something." Hiroshi replied.

"And I thank you, but next time, don't over do it." Naruto said with a slight smile.

'_Now the kid can use the technique twice.'_ Naruto then turned his attention back to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, let's end this here and now." Naruto stated. Sasuke just stood up and stared at Naruto. He couldn't comprehend the fact that Naruto had become so much stronger than he since the last time the battled. And he couldn't even let the fact that Naruto created a Jutsu that was inferior to the Sharingan sink in. Naruto has surpassed him though he almost had Naruto right where he wanted him but if it wasn't for his pesky Genin, he would of finished what he tried to do so long ago.

'_Damn it, I'm getting exhausted. If I don't end this soon, I'll have to retreat.'_ Sasuke thought to himself. He was literally backed into the corner now. He had no clue what to do now, and if he did anything to bring out Kyuubi, he would be done for. He already took a chance on that one by using the kid that had just caught him off gone to force the real Naruto out of hiding. Sasuke was out of options, he was going to be defeated if he didn't think of something quickly.

"What the hell am I going to do now?" Sasuke whispered to himself.

* * *

**Until next time, see ya.**


	8. Naruto Goes Kyuubi! Sasuke's Last Stand!

**Here's the fifth chapter of the Hidden Waterfall Village Arc, enjoy.**

* * *

**8. Naruto Goes Kyuubi! Sasuke's Last Stand!**

The midday sun shined brightly over Konoha. A light breeze was in the air to keep the day cool. Whereas a familiar pink-haired Kunoichi was walking, apparently she was deep in thought and really wasn't paying much attention until she bumped into a familiar young man.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's alright Sakura." said the black-haired twenty-one year old. He wore a green long-sleeve button up shirt with a blue scarf wrapped around his neck and was wearing dark blue pants.

"Oh, Konohamaru it's you." Sakura said realizing who it was. "Hey, by chance have you seen Naruto today?"

"Nope I haven't." replied Konohamaru, "Why do you ask?"

"Something happened the other day and I wanted to apologize to him." Answered Sakura, "But I haven't seen him in two days."

"He probably just been busy training." Konohamaru said.

"Yeah, but I usually see him and his team at the training grounds or somewhere else." Sakura pondered.

"He has a team now?" asked a surprised Konohamaru.

"Yeah, you didn't know?" Sakura replied.

"No, I've been busy with missions in stuff." Konohamaru's brain then clicked, "Crap, speaking of missions, I'm going on one now to the land of waves for some trading thing or something, see you later Sakura."

"Goodbye Konohamaru." Sakura said while waving off Konohamaru.

'_Where are you Naruto?'_

* * *

Sasuke stood. Naruto was a few feet away, staring. Naruto wanted to finish this quickly because he was getting tired himself and he wouldn't last much longer in this dragging fight. Sasuke took quite a beating while Naruto had suffered a few hits as well but Sasuke's will to possibly kill Naruto kept him going while Naruto wanted nothing more to knock him out so he could drag his worthless ass back to Konoha, but seeing how things were going, that was not going to be the case once again. Naruto than started to contemplate on rather to tell Sakura this encounter or not, he knew deep inside it was a long shot that he'd still be able to bring Sasuke back but he was never going to give up. Naruto sighed. 

'_It's time to end this.' _Naruto thought. Sasuke had no idea what was to come. Naruto did a hand seal.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" he yelled and created a massive amount of clones.

'_Kage Bushin again? Is that all he'll ever use?'_ Sasuke thought but then in a flash they had all disappeared.

"What?!" yelled Sasuke, "The clones can do that jutsu too!"

Suddenly 'Naruto' appeared in front of Sasuke giving him and uppercut into the air. He was lifted into the air a couple of feet where another 'Naruto' appeared and threw a flying kick into his stomach. Sasuke grunted as the force sent him flying backwards. Before he hit the huge tree across the green lake, another 'Naruto' appeared behind him and jammed his fist into Sasuke's head forcing me to fall downward at a fast pace into the water. Even after hitting the water, the force of the blow kept him going and he could not stop, not even when he used his Chakra. Sasuke this time was prepared for another Naruto to appear right before him and this time he was going to evade the attack, but he was tricked once again. This time he found a Kunai with several exploding tags wrapped around it, soon enough they ignited. Sasuke was still far enough away from being injured, but the force of the blast forced him out of the water. The explosion had caught him off guard leaving his defenses down where a whole group of Naruto clones appeared. All five of the clones gave a blow to Sasuke's back with some sort of kick. Sasuke landed into the ground and slide across stopping in front of Hiroshi, Shiro, Himawari and Shibuki.

"What the hell just happened?" Hiroshi asked. Apparently the massive beating took place only in a matter of just a minute.

"I-I don't know." replied Himawari who was just as clueless.

Even after the massive clone beating, Sasuke still found his strength to stand up. He stared straight at Shibuki.

"You." Sasuke said pointing at Shibuki, "You called him here, didn't you?"

"N-no I did not, I had no idea any ninja from Konoha were coming here." replied a scared Shibuki.

Sasuke took out a Kunai, "Liar, and that I will kill you."

Sasuke took his Kunai and slashed Shibuki across the neck. Usually Sasuke would never resort to this kind of thing, but rage took over him. Mainly the fact Naruto was so much stronger than he was. All this time traveling around to find Itachi, his strength that he gained with Orochimaru stayed the same while Naruto continued to grow. More frustration at the fact Naruto could even create a jutsu that wasn't perverted in any way, even more so that it was a Jutsu that even the Sharingan had a trouble of seeing because it was so fast. But instead of taking his rage out on Naruto, he just took it out on an innocent man but as far as Sasuke's concern, he didn't care anymore at this point. Naruto appeared standing over Shibuki who's life was almost drained out of his body.

"Shibuki!" cried the brown-haired female that had been standing behind Shibuki. She kneeled down and cried. The leader of the Hidden Waterfall Village was dead. Naruto just stared, rage was circling his body. Why did Sasuke kill him in cold blood? Why did Sasuke kill him for no apparent reason? No justification. Naruto's enraged blue eyes met their gaze with Sasuke with pure rage.

"Why the fuck did you do that?" yelled Naruto.

"Because he brought this misfortune to me, he called for you." Sasuke replied coldly.

"What?!" Naruto yelled in pure rage. "That's your justification for taking an innocent life!"

Sasuke just stared.

"You truly are a fucking baka. He did not call for me, I was sent here on an information gathering mission. I thought I told you that early" Naruto continued in rage.

'**That's it kit, let me out, let me play.' **Kyuubi said over Naruto's enraged mind.

"You're going to pay for this." Naruto yelled and red chakra began rushing around Naruto. Sasuke took a step back, he knew what was happening. Naruto's blue eyes turned into red, fox-like eyes. The whisker marks on his cheeks got longer and thicker, his fingernails grew longer into claw-like nails. Naruto's Genin just stared, slightly scared.

"Wh-what is happening to Naruto-sensei?" Hiroshi said slightly scared.

"I don't know." Shiro replied.

* * *

Sakura continued walking the streets of Konoha, she went to all the places where she'd usually find Naruto and to no avail, he wasn't at either one of those places. 

"Naruto, where are you?" Sakura said to herself as she came towards the Hokage building. "I'll just ask Tsunade-sama"

Sakura walked into the Hokage building and headed straight for the Hokage's office. She knocked on the door a few times.

"Come in." said a voice from behind the door. Sakura than entered and the woman at the desk looked up.

"Ah Sakura, what brings you here?"

"Tsunade-sama, have you seen Naruto around lately, I cannot find him?" asked Sakura.

Tsunade looked at her with a puzzled face.

'_What the? Just the other day she was so pissed at him.'_ Tsunade thought and then spoke up. "I took care of him like I said I would."

Sakura gulped, sort of scared with her reply. "What do you mean 'took care of him'? You didn't kill him did you?"

Tsunade let out a laugh, "Are you kidding me? He couldn't die even if he tried. I don't know how many times he's evaded death."

Sakura laughed at her dumb question, Tsunade was right. Naruto was basically immortal. So many times in his years of being a ninja, he had evaded death. Tsunade then spoke up again.

"No, Naruto's fine. I sent him on a mission with his team to the Hidden Waterfall Village, he should be back tomorrow."

"He went on a mission?" asked Sakura, Tsunade nodded. "Even if I was super pissed at him, he would of told me he was leaving, that's not like him."

"I actually made him leave right away." Tsunade said, "He probably didn't have time."

"Okay, well thank you Tsunade-sama." Sakura said and left the Hokage building. While walking out, two ANBU ran into the Hokage building.

"The ANBU, I wonder what's up." Sakura said to herself and decide to follow to listen.

* * *

With Naruto now in his no tail Kyuubi form, Sasuke was prepared for what he wanted to do when he killed Shibuki. Sasuke activated his Sharingan once again and stared into Naruto's red eyes to get inside Naruto's head, but before he could finish what he started, Naruto disappeared from sight only to appear in front of Sasuke and Naruto began punching Sasuke in the stomach. One after another causing Sauske to be lifted into the air quite a bit and finally Naruto through one last punch, the hardest one he could do and the fist connected to Sasuke's face and he fell to the ground. Sasuke laid on the spot he fell onto for a while until he tried to get up. He struggled and only managed to sit up to see Naruto standing over him with the intimidating red eyes staring with up most rage. 

"It's over."

With that said, Naruto landed a kick on Sasuke's face sending him flying back a couple of feet.

* * *

**Until next time, see ya.**


	9. Sasuke Escapes! Kyuubi Form Naruto!

**First off, a disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's characters, I only own my own characters and storyline.**

**Second of all, this is the second to last chapter of the current arc, so enjoy.**

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* * *

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**9. Sasuke Escapes! Kyuubi-Form Naruto's Rage!**

Sakura stood by the door of the Hokage's office to listen in on the conversation that was going on between Tsunade and the two ANBU ninja that she saw while leaving. Usually she wouldn't be nosey like this, but something inside Sakura told her to go and listen out of sheer curiosity. She concentrated hard to hear the voices.

"Tsunade-sama," began on of the ANBU, "We followed Naruto and his team like you asked to see he actually went."

'_What? Tsunade didn't trust Naruto to go?'_ Sakura thought somewhat surprised at Tsunade.

"Usually the baka will go, but something told me he might not since he didn't want the mission, but arigato. You're dismissed." Tsunade said.

"Wait Tsunade-sama, there's more." said the other ANBU.

"Oh, is that so?" asked Tsunade.

"We followed him into the village after aWaterfall Ninja asked Naruto and his Genin assistance in stopping a missing-nin from attacking their village." Spoke the first ANBU member.

"Go on."

"Well it turned out that missing-nin was none other than Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura gasped but quickly covered her mouth hoping Tsunade nor the two ANBU hear her.

* * *

Naruto, with his red, fox-like eyes and red Chakra flowing around his body, he stared at Sasuke with great evil and anger.

"You will pay." repeated the demonic sounding Naruto.

"Well bring it." Sasuke said trying to rile Naruto up some more. Naruto didn't waste any time and started running around Naruto at a super high speed.

"His normal speed has increased after that red Chakra took over." Hiroshi pointed out.

"Naruto-sensei is truly amazing." Shiro added.

"Yeah but this form of Naruto-sensei is kind of scarey." Himawari spoke up.

"Is that all you going to do? Run around in circles?" Sasuke asked.

No answer came from Naruto as he stopped slide behind Sasuke and kicked him the back causing him to rocket into the air. Naruto then appeared in front of Sasuke and began punching him in the stomach forcing Sasuke higher into the air. Finally, Naruto did almost the seemingly impossible, twirled into the air to land a kick across Sasuke's face. The force of the kick just knocked him into the branches of the big tree. Sasuke broke through some of the branches finally coming to a stop after hitting a real thick and large branch. Sasuke hit the branch hard and couldn't move for a bit and just went numb. A few minutes past and finally feeling had returned in his body and he got up slowly.

"That's it, I'm done for, I'm getting out of here." Sasuke said to himself and escaped by going inside the tree.

Naruto, still in his first stage Kyuubi form waited on the ground for a good few minutes before growing impatient.

"Sasuke, where are you?" he yelled up at the tree in his demonic voice. "Don't tell you went and died on me when I was beginning to have fun."

"What you said earlier, Himawari-chan," Hiroshi said, "You're right, this side of Naruto-sensei is scary."

Himawari just nodded, she was getting more frightened then ever.

'_This Naruto, he's definitely not the same person before that red Chakra.' _Contemplated the brown-haired Kuniochi who was still hanging on Shibuki's body and still weeped ever so often.

"Fine, if you won't come down, I'll just have to go up there and get you down." said Naruto and quickly appeared on the tree and began searching the branches. He searched and searched until he saw a path of broken limbs.

"That must be where his body flew through." Naruto said to himself and followed to the end where he stopped at a huge thick branch. "Well the trail ends here."

"Where are you teme?" yelled the blonde Shinobi in his demonic voice. "Quit being pathetic and come out here and fight me!"

Silence, no response at all, just where did Sasuke go? The thought went through his enraged mind. Then he saw one of the entrances to inside the tree and it clicked, he went down the tree to hide in the water. Naruto's rage increased once more.

"I'm coming to get you, you bastard!" yelled the really pissed off Naruto and jumped into the lake and swam around a bit, looking for Sasuke.

* * *

"Are you sure it was the Uchiha?" asked a reluctant Tsunade. She didn't want to believe she possibly sent Naruto to his death by accident. Then again, she should of known where ever Itachi was, Sasuke wouldn't be too far behind.

'_Naruto could be fighting Sasuke? The first time, Naruto almost died. The second time he wasn't as bad, but he was still bed ridden for a week.'_ Sakura thought with fear. Over the years she grew attached to the blonde-haired knuckle headed ninja. He was her best friend, and if he died, she didn't want to think about it.

"We did watch some of the battle, we believe Naruto will make it. Sasuke was taking quite a beating before we left to tell you." The ANBU spoke up.

"Let's all hope so."

'_Naruto, please be okay.'_ Sakura worried in her mind, she did not want her best friend to come home dead.

* * *

Naruto flashed out of the water looking around the entire vicinity to find any traces of the Uchiha. He came up with nothing.

"Where the hell are you teme? Quit hiding from you bastard." yelled Naruto

"You know, if your sensei can't find that Sasuke guy, he must of escaped through the tree." the Kunoichi said.

"What do you mean?" asked Himawari.

"The tree is hollow inside and acts as an escape route from the village to the waterfall." The Kuniochi replied. "He probably used it to get away from Naruto."

"Naruto-sensei, it's no use, Sasuke escaped." Hiroshi yelled out. Naruto wasn't listening, he was too busy scanning around for any trace of his opponent.

"Where are you?" Naruto kept repeating. "Where the hell are you?"

"It's no use." Shiro spoke, "He's too bent on trying to find Sasuke. I'm starting to think that's not really Naruto, but whatever that red Chakra is."

"Shiro-kun, what are you saying?" asked a slightly confused Himawari.

"I'm saying Naruto's being possessed by something." answered Shiro.

"Possessed?" questioned Hiroshi, "Are you sure?"

"I think so." Shiro answered, "Since that red Chakra began flowing out of him, Naruto-sensei attitude changed to something completely different."

Naruto continued his enraged search for his 'cowardly opponent'. He began crashing through some of the homes, bashing in walls and roofs and even trashing some.

"He's starting to go through the homes and tearing them up." said the brown-haired woman, "We got to do something to calm him down."

"Sasuke, where did you go you coward!" yelled Naruto over and over again. "Show yourself."

Hiroshi decided it was enough and decided to step in and try to calm Naruto down himself. Himawari noticed him walking over to Naruto.

"Hiroshi-kun, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to see if I can calm Naruto-sensei down." Hiroshi replied as he approached Naruto. Naruto was still breaking through homes trying to find the lost Uchiha when Hiroshi got in front of him.

"Naruto-sensei, you have to calm down." Hiroshi began, "You're tearing up the village for someone that isn't here anymore."

"Get out of my way." Naruto said, clearly whatever was possessing Naruto, he didn't exactly know who the kid was.

"Naruto-sensei, please stop this madness" Hiroshi began to plead. Naruto didn't waste any time and pushed Hiroshi out of the way. It was hard, just enough to get him out of Naruto's way so he could continue his rampage search.

"Damn it Sasuke, where did you get to?"

"Hiroshi-kun, are you okay?" Himawari said after she ran to him.

"Yeah I'm fine; he just kind of pushed me out of the way."

"So I was right, that isn't the Naruto-sensei we know." Shiro added, "It's something completely different."

"I think you're right Shiro, he looked as if he didn't know me at all." Hiroshi said while getting up, "But I have to try again, it's the only way to get through to him."

Once again he approached Naruto to try and see if he could get through to him. He was brave enough and stood in front of Naruto again.

Naruto sighed, "You again?" Hiroshi nodded, "Kid, get out of my way."

"Naruto-sensei, stop it. You're destroying a village and terrifying innocent people." Hiroshi said with a serious tone, "Get it together or…" Hiroshi was cut off when Naruto slammed his arm into him to shove him out of the way, this time it was much harder than the light shove from earlier. Hiroshi slammed into the ground and screamed in pain. Somehow, Hiroshi's painful scream snapped Naruto back into his senses. His eyes returned to their usual blue color. The red Chakra that was surrounding Naruto's body had completely disappeared and his fingernails weren't claws anymore. Naruto looked at Hiroshi, who he slammed into the ground then looked at his own hands as they were filled with the guilt, then he began looking around the village that he began to tear up.

"What have I done?" Naruto said as he began to sob a bit. Himawari and Shiro stared in shock at the scene that had unfolded.

"I did it again." Naruto continued talking to himself while crying. "Every time I let that beast out, I end up hurting someone I do not intend to."

"At least Naruto-sensei is back to normal." Shiro finally said. Himawari nodded.

* * *

**Until next time, goodbye.**


	10. Aftermath: What Have I Done?

**1). Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or it's characters, I only own the storyline and my characters.**

**2). Two chapters in one day, it's a miracle!**

**3). This is the last chapter in the Hidden Waterfall Village Arc, so enjoy.**

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**10. Aftermath: What Have I Done?**

Naruto looked around at the devastation his little rampage actually caused. It wasn't like he totaled the village, but there was extent damage to the buildings he paraded through just looking for Sasuke. He didn't remember much, just bits here and there. Naruto just stared out into the space, contemplating, cursing himself for letting the Kyuubi out.

"**Hey don't blame me kid, you let…" **Kyuubi was cut off.

'_Shut up, just shut up.' _Naruto yelled in his mind at the Kyuubi.

Naruto just continued to stare, his guilt was far more than anything he was feeling. He turned around to see his students. Shiro and Himawari were standing over Hiroshi who layed on the ground. The pain had receded but he still didn't want to get up. More guilt entered Naruto as he attacked his own student in all his rage. He slowly walked towards his students and just stared. Shiro looked up followed by Himawari and last Hiroshi. There was a long, suffocating silence in the air between Naruto and his students, finally he decided to speak up.

"I-I'm sorry. You weren't supposed to see that." Naruto said in a sad, apologetic voice. "And I'm most sorry to you Hiroshi."

Silence again. Naruto knew his students were quite afraid of him now, seeing as what they had just witnessed. Hiroshi was probably more scared then Shiro and Himawari as he was the one Naruto attacked. Naruto sighed and lowered his head, there was no excuse to what he had done. Finally Shiro spoke up.

"It's okay Naruto-sensei, you were not yourself." Naruto looked up at his students. Himawari nodded to what Shiro had just said. Naruto looked at Hiroshi again, this time he spoke.

"I should of known better." Hiroshi smiled a bit. Naruto was releaved, but he could still sense the slight fear in them.

"Don't worry guys, that won't happen again." Naruto said forcing a slight smile. Naruto reached out his hand and helped Hiroshi back to his feet.

"Naruto-sensei?" Hiroshi spoke up.

"What is it?" Naruto answered.

"What are you going to do about all this?" Hiroshi asked pointing at all the damage he caused in the village. A sweat drop appeared on the back of his head and he began rubbing the back of his head with his right hand and then chuckled nervously.

"I don't know."

* * *

Tsunade was standing behind her desk while two ANBU members in front of her spoke of the situation that was occurring in the Hidden Waterfall, finally anger hit Tsunade like a ton of bricks. 

"You idiots!" She began yelling, "You should have stayed there and helped Naruto. He might have been winning the fight before you left, but surely now he could be dead or about to be killed."

Sakura, who was listening behind the door, winced at the thought of that.

"I can't believe you could be so stupid!" Tsunade yelled once more. The two ANBU bowed their heads.

"We're sorry, Tsunade-sama." They said in unison, "We weren't thinking."

"You're right, you weren't! No go back there and retrieve Naruto and his team, NOW!"

"Yes ma'am."

The two ANBU disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Tsunade sat back down in her chair at her desk. She slammed her fist down on the table with sheer anger.

"God I need a drink." Tsunade said to herself.

A woman with black hair and a black kimono approached and saw Sakura by the Hokage's office.

"Sakura-san, what are you doing?" asked the woman as she approached the door.

Sakura turned around quickly and saw the woman standing there.

"Oh, Shizune-san, you scared me." Sakura replied.

"Sorry, but what are you doing?" Shizune asked again.

"Well I, uh…" Sakura was cut off as the door to the Hokage's office opened and Tsunade entered the hall way.

"Sakura, what are you still doing here? I thought you left by now." Tsunade asked. "You heard the conversation with the ANBU, didn't you?"

Sakura just nodded and Tsunade sighed

* * *

Naruto walked over to the woman that was still holding onto Shibuki. He, Himawari, Shiro and Hiroshi gathered around staring at the body in the womans hand as she sobbed a little here and there. Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder which startled the woman a bit. 

"Oh, Naruto-san." She said then looking back down at Shibuki. That's when Naruto noticed something. There was no blood, and not even a cut at Shibuki's throat here Sasuke used his sword to slash Shibuki.

"I didn't ask your name." Naruto spoke up.

"My name's Kawa."

"Well Kawa, Shibuki's not dead." Naruto said.

"Yes he is, just look at him!" she yelled. Naruto then pumped some of his Chakra into the woman.

"Now look at him." The woman complied and noticed the slash, the blood had all disappeared and saw his chest rise and fall.

"H-how?" Kawa aksed in disbelief.

"It was a Genjutsu." Naruto answered. "I'm surprised he learned some sort of Genjutsu, but then again since he has Sharingan, it is possible."

"So, you're telling me it was all an illusion?" Kama asked.

"Yes." Naruto answered. "Shibuki needs rest, he's going to be okay."

Naruto, with the help of Kawa, place Shibuki on a bed in a nearby house. Kawa's house to be exact, it was one of the houses Naruto didn't rampage through, luckily for her. Naruto and his team went outside to leave the two alone for now.

* * *

"You know, you weren't supposed to hear all that." Tsunade spoke up. Sakura just nodded. 

"If you're concerned about Naruto, I'm sure he'll be fine." Tsunade reassured her, but even those words Tsunade didn't believe so much herself. The two times Naruto encountered Sasuke, he was almost killed. Sakura just nodded, she was just couldn't find any words to say. Tsunade began to walk away.

"Shizune, I'm going for a drink. Keep an eye on things while I'm gone, okay?" Tsunade asked as she walked away.

"Sure thing, Tsunade-sama." Shizune replied and entered the Hokage's office.

Sakura just stood there; she didn't really know what to do. Sakura could tell when Tsunade told her Naruto would be alright that Tsunade didn't believe the words herself. It was Sakura's turn to leave the Hokage building and she did. She walked the streets slowly with her head down, deep in thought.

'_I really hope Naruto is okay. The baka won't give up though since this is Sasuke we're talking about.'_ Sakura thought, _'Naruto just come home in one piece, please.'_

* * *

Night fell over the Hidden Waterfall as Naruto and his Genin just sat at the banks of the green lake. Naruto heard footsteps and turned around to see who it was. It was Kawa and Shibuki. Naruto stood up to face the two. 

"I see the battle is over." Shibuki finally said.

"Yeah, the bastard escaped." Naruto replied.

"And I see that there is some destruction to my village." Shibuki said with slight anger in his voice. This caused Naruto to stiffen up and begin to sweat out of pure nervousness this time.

"Y-yeah, well y-you see," Naruto began as he stuttered, "I, uh."

Kama then stepped in, "It was all that Sasuke."

Naruto was hit with a wave of relief, she had blamed Naruto's little rampage on the Uchiha so he nor Konoha would be liable for the damage.

"I figured as much." Shibuki said with the anger gone from his voice. "You and your team could use a rest, why not sleep here before heading back?"

"Sure, arigato." Naruto said. Shibuki guided them to a nearby house.

"The woman who lived here died a few weeks ago, it used to our inn for lost travelers, who weren't ninja." Shibuki said and Naruto and his team entered the building and quickly found a bed. Shibuki left but Kama stayed behind for a bit. Naruto walked up to her.

"Arigato, for saving my ass back there." Naruto said.

"Don't mention it, it was the best I could do for running off that Uchiha fellow." Kama said with a smile. "Sleep well."

Naruto returned to his bed and got into it.

"Tomorrow we'll be heading back home."

* * *

Sakura just lied in her bed. She couldn't sleep as thoughts of Naruto coming home dead or severly injured replayed in her mind. Then the image of Naruto after fighting Sasuke for the first time came to her head. She remembered that Naruto was wrapped up in so many bandages, he looked like a mummy. That thought made her giggle a bit, but still, she still worried. The light of the moon began to infiltrate her room and she sighed and turned over to face in the opposite direction. Sakura was not going to sleep very well tonight, and hopefully Naruto would come home tomorrow in one piece.

* * *

Morning had come just as fast as Naruto fell asleep. He didn't want to get up; he just wanted to lay in bed as much as he could. The events that took place yesterday really tired him out, but if he wanted to get back home to Konoha today, he'd have to get up now. Naruto forced himself out of bed and put on his orange and black jumpsuit back up. He stretched and yawned finally walking over to his students and shook them slightly. 

"Alright you three, get up, we're leaving." Naruto said firmly. The three Genin stirred and groaned.

"It's early, Naruto-sensei." groaned Himawari.

"I know, but if we're going to get home today, we got to leave now." Naruto said.

Shiro and Himawari finally got out of their beds. Hiroshi, well he was a different story. He still laid in bed fast asleep. Naruto sighed and shook Hiroshi harder.

"Come on, get up damn it." Naruto said slightly annoyed, "We don't have all day."

Hiroshi groaned and turned over and began snoring slightly again. A vain popped out in Naruto's head.

"Wake up!" Naruto yelled forcing Hiroshi up.

"What's going on?" said a slightly disorientated Hiroshi.

"We're leaving." Naruto said and Hiroshi got out of bed. The three approached the lake to find Shibuki and Kama standing there.

"Leaving alright, Naruto-san?" asked Kawa.

"Yep, if we leave now, we'll make it back to Konoha by evening." Naruto said. Shibuki approached them.

"Naruto, I thank you for what you've done for us yesterday."

"Sure thing." Naruto said with his trademark grin.

"Come back anytime you feel like." Shibuki said. Naruto and his team dived into the lake and entered the cave at the bottom and swam up into the cave that was behind the waterfall. They exited the waterfall and climbed down. Naruto stopped and looked back at the waterfall.

'_This isn't over Sasuke, when we meet again, I'll truly defeat you.'_ Naruto thought and turned back to his students and smiled.

"Alright, let's go home."

* * *

Sakura woke up in mid-morning. Her night of bad sleep showed as she was very tired. She groaned as she got up and got ready to meet her team to get their mission for the day. Sakura left her house and headed to their usual meeting spot when a silver-haired man approached her. Sakura instantly recognized him. 

"Oh, hello Kakashi-sensei." she greeted him.

"Good morning Sakura." Kakashi said, "Tsunade-sama told me to tell you not to worry about Naruto."

Sakura looked at Kakashi with hopeful eyes, hoping Tsunade told him something about Naruto. "What she say?"

"Tsunade-sama told me that the two ANBU she sent out after Naruto reported he and his team left the Hidden Waterfall Village early this morning and they'll be back by evening."

"Arigato, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said smiling. Kakashi just waved and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Thank Kami he's alright." Sakura said to herself.

* * *

**I might update with another chapter today. It's my day off from work and I'm just relaxing so I might write up another chapter, but until next time, see ya.**

**Oh and the summary to the next arc is now on my profile, so if you want a small sneek peek, just look at that.**


	11. Return to Konoha! Arising Crisis!

**1). Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's characters. Just this storyline and my characters.**

**2). Third chapter update in one day. I managed to write the third one for today like I said I might so enjoy it.**

**3). This is the first chapter in the Rescue Konohamaru Arc. If you want to know what these missing-nin want to use the Land of Waves' ports, you'll just have to wait, I haven't thought about it myself yet. Also this is probably the longest chapter I've written so far.**

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**11. Return to Konoha! Arising Crisis!**

The sun had reached the western horizon and Sakura awaited at the front gate for the return of Naruto. She just wanted to make sure he really okay and not hurt or injured in any way. Sakura also knew her visit with Naruto would be short lived after he returned, he'd probably would have to go to Tsunade's office right away to debrief on the mission. She had been waiting for a good hour before her heard a familiar voice in the distance and sure enough, accompanying that voice was her blonde-haired ninja friend.

"Alright guys, there's the gate's of Konoha." Naruto said happy as ever to be home.

"Thank kami, I'm so tired I could pass out right here." Shiro said.

"You said it, Shiro." Hiroshi added.

Naruto chuckled, "Don't forget, we still got to pay a vist to Tsunade-baachan."

The three genin just groaned and Naruto chuckled and turned his attention back on the gate. When he got close enough, the first thing he saw was Sakura, standing at the gate with a huge smile on her face.

'_Oh crap.' _Naruto thought in fear. Hiroshi saw her too.

"Uh oh sensei, looks like she's back for round two."

Naruto gulped, "Don't joke like that Hiroshi."

Hiroshi laughed. Himawari and Shiro looked confused.

"What do you mean Hiroshi-kun?" asked Himawari.

Hiroshi rolled his eyes, "It's nothing Himawari-chan."

She said and Shiro just stayed silent. Naruto and his team entered the main gate into Konoha. He was scared, he wasn't expecting Sakura to be waiting and even then, scared wasn't the word to describe it.

"Sa-Sakura-chan," Naruto began, trembling. "What are you doing here?"

Sakura just smiled and hugged him tightly. Naruto was surprised and taken back by the event that just unfolded. Why was she hugging him? She nearly killed him with her powerful punch to the face just days before. Why the sudden change of heart?

"I over heard Tsunade talking to ANBU yesterday and…." Sakura began.

"And what?" Naruto interrupted.

"She sent them to follow you to make sure you actually went on that mission." Sakura continued.

'_What the hell? She didn't trust me about going?'_ Naruto thought. "Go on."

"Also that you were fighting Sasuke."

Naruto froze up. _'Damn it, she found out about that.'_

Naruto just stayed quiet.

"I was worried that you would be killed." Sakura finished.

"You were worried?" asked a touched Naruto.

"I thought I would lose my friend." Sakura admitted. Naruto smiled.

"You should have been there. I kicked his ass a good bit before he escaped." Naruto said with his voice getting sadder at the end, "Which means I failed again."

"Don't worry about it, Naruto. I'm just glad you're okay." Sakura said trying to cheer Naruto back up. Hiroshi, Himawari and Shiro just watched. Shiro was getting impatient and wanted to get the debriefing over so he could go home so he decided to cut in. Shiro got in between Sakura and Naruto. Sakura was just confused and Naruto looked at Shiro with anger in his eyes.

"What is it Shiro?" asked an annoyed Naruto.

"I want to go home, so can we go get the debriefing over with already." Shiro said.

Naruto sighed, "Fine." He looked back up at Sakura. "Well Sakura-chan, I have to go see Tsunade-baachan."

Sakura nodded, "How about we meet up for Ramen tonight? There's something I want to talk to you about."

Naruto smiled, "Of course, I'd love to!"

Sakura smiled and waved off Naruto and his team as the headed for the Hokage's building.

* * *

Team Eleven arrived at the Hokage building. They stared at it as if they didn't really want to go but they did. They went straight to Tsunade's office where Naruto knocked on the door.

"Come in." A faintly familiar voice said from the other side. Naruto and his Genin enter to find Shizune at the desk.

"Oh, Shizune, uh, where's Tsunade-baachan?" asked Naruto.

"She'll be back shortly." Shizune replied.

Shiro sighed, "Oh great, more waiting."

Naruto ignored his impatient Genin and waited. About ten minutes after arriving Tsunade entered here office and saw Naruto and his team falling asleep sitting down, waiting. Naruto finally sensed her presence and got up.

"It's about time." Naruto said. Tsunade just sat down, ignoring Naruto's small outburst.

"Alright, spill." Tsunade finally said.

"What do you want to know first?" asked Naruto.

"Did you find out any information about Itachi?" asked Tsunade.

"They didn't know anything." Naruto answered. "It seems to me he was just passing near the area, didn't actually go into the village."

"I see, and what about your fight with Sasuke?" asked Tsunade.

"I kicked him around a bit then he escaped." Naruto replied. Tsunade sighed.

"At least you're in one piece this time." Tsunade said. Naruto just nodded but before Naruto could speak up again the door swung opened.

"What's the meaning of this?" yelled Tsunade before she realized who it was. Standing before her was a beaten up, man wearing sunglasses and had his forehead protector tied completely around his head as a bandana. He wore the traditional Jounin vest. Had a black shirt and blue paints with the blue opened toe shoes.

"Tsunade-sama." He spoke up, "We have a problem."

"Naruto, you and your team are dismissed." Naruto nodded and walked out the door along with his Genin.

* * *

Outside the Hokage building Naruto and his team stood out front.

"I wonder what was that all about." Naruto said and he looked at Hiroshi, Shiro and Himawari. "Alright, you all can go home now."

"Goodbye Naruto-sensei." Himawari said waving.

Naruto smiled, "Goodbye."

Shiro just waved slightly and walked off. Hiroshi stood there without moving. Instantly Naruto knew what was bothering him.

"Still don't want to go home yet?" asked Naruto. Hiroshi shook his head. The whole mission kept Hiroshi's mind off the death of his parents. Now that he was back, the news came back to haunt him. Naruto sighed, he didn't really want Hiroshi to stay another night with him. Naruto cared about his students, but Hiroshi can't always rely on him. Also there was the fact he was going to spend some time with Sakura in a little while.

"Hiroshi look, I know you feel lonely and don't want to go." Naruto began to say but then stayed silent. He didn't know what he could say to the boy this time.

Hiroshi sighed, "Don't worry about Naruto-sensei. I'll go deal with it."

Naruto sighed and watched Hiroshi walked away. He felt guilty for just letting the boy go finally he couldn't handle his conscience.

"Alright Hiroshi, you can stay another night, but I'm not going to be home much tonight." Naruto finally shouted.

Hiroshi turned around. "Are you sure?" Naruto nodded.

"But like I said, I'm not going to be home until later tonight."

Hiroshi and Naruto reached his apartment. Naruto took out his key and unlocked the door and the two stepped inside. Hiroshi just basically fell onto the couch and in a few minutes he was out.

'_Poor kid, was more tired than he showed.'_ Naruto thought as he washed up. Thirty minutes had passed and Naruto left his apartment. He quickly ran down the stairs out into the streets and headed for his favorite ramen bar. It was a quick walk and he was the first to arrive, he sat down on one of the bar stools and waited. The old man that ran the place approached the counter.

"Ah, Naruto, haven't seen you in a few days." The man said.

"I was on a mission." Naruto replied.

"I see. So what will it be today?" he asked.

"Not yet, I'm waiting for someone." Naruto replied.

"Alright then, holler when you're ready to order." The man said and walked into the kitchen in the back. Naruto only had to wait another ten minutes until the girl he was awaiting for arrived.

"Hello, Sakura-chan." Naruto greeted her with his famous grin.

Sakura smiled, "I hope you weren't waiting too long."

"Nah, only about ten minutes." Naruto said. Soon enough the old man returned.

"So what will it be?" he asked.

"The usual." Naruto said.

"And I'll just have what he's having." Sakura said afterwards. The old man nodded and went back into the kitchen.

There was a little awkward silence. Naruto didn't know what to say and Sakura didn't know where to begin. She sighed and gathered her thoughts.

* * *

"Alright, what's this news you have Ebisu?" Tsunade asked.

"Well," Ebisu began, "We were about to leave the Land of Waves when we were ambushed by a few missing-nin."

"From where?" asked Tsunade.

"I don't exactly know." Ebisu replied. "It happened so fast really. The man that was running the show was powerful and he beat me pretty badly."

"What of your teammates?" asked a serious Tsunade.

"Well Moegi and Udon are injured but I got them to the Infirmary before I got here." Ebisu began, "As for Konohamaru, he was taking hostage."

"What?" yelled Tsunade. "Alright we have to get him back."

"Of course, but these people are holding him ransom." Ebisu cut in. "They want the Land of Waves so they can use it as a port for their bidding. If they don't comply, they'll kill Konohamaru and place the blame on the Land of Waves so we'd go to war with them and ally with us so when we destroyed their village, they'd take it over."

"What?" Tsunade asked in shock. "How did you find this out?"

"Well, one of the leaders of the Wave found me and told me these peoples plan." Ebisu replied, "So I came here as fast as I could so I could warn you."

"We'll get Konohamaru back and rid the Land of Waves of these missing-nin." Tsunade stood up. "Shizune."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama?"

"Summon Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto at once." Tsunade said.

"Hai." Shizune said and ran out of the Hokage's building.

* * *

Two hot fresh bowls of ramen were ready. One was place in front of Naruto and he began to chow down and the other was placed in front of Sakura and she began to eat it.

"So Naruto, listen." Sakura finally spoke up. Naruto stopped eating and turned his attention to the Kunoichi.

"What is it Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto.

"I'm sorry about punching you like I did the other day." Sakura said in a sad tone.

"It's okay Sakura-chan." Naruto said and began eating his ramen once more.

"What did you fully say?" Sakura asked. Naruto blushed and told her what he and Hiroshi were talking about. Sakura laughed after Naruto was done, he too couldn't help but laugh, but inside he was kind of hurt.

'_So she thinks me wanting to marry her is funny. I should of known.' _Naruto thought as he turned sad but of course he didn't show it outside and placed a fake, but believable smile and continued to eat until a certain silver-haired ninja appeared before them. Naruto and Sakura turned around to see their former sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto and Sakura both said.

"Naruto, come." Kakashi said.

"What? Why? Can't you see I'm kind of busy Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said slightly upset.

"It's urgent, Tsunade-sama has called for us." Kakashi spoke.

"What the hell for? I just talked to the old bat a couple of hours ago." Naruto injected with more anger.

"Naruto, don't make me drag you to the Hokage's office."

Naruto sighed in defeat, "Fine." He turned to Sakura. "I'm sorry Sakura, but I guess it's important."

Sakura nodded, "It's okay Naruto, I won't hold it against you."

Naruto and Kakashi left and Sakura stayed and she looked down at the counter and sighed.

'_I wish I could spend more time with Naruto.' _Sakura thought. If she was a Genin, she wouldn't have thought such 'horrible' thoughts. But since Sasuke left years ago and being around Naruto more after he returned from training with Jiraiya, she grew to like Naruto and like spending time with him, and as the years went on the two got more busy. Her with working in the hospital with Tsunade., Naruto with his missions and training to become the next Hokage. Since the two became Jounin, they had been busier than ever and now that both have teams, they rarely got to see each other at all. Sakura sighed once more she was about to hand the old man when he waved his hands and showed that Naruto had paid for both their meals before leaving with Kakashi. She smiled and began to walk home.

* * *

Tsunade was waiting in her office when Kakashi and Naruto appeared before her.

"I see Shizune managed to find you in such a short time." Tsunade said. Kakashi and Naruto nodded.

"Let's cut to the chase Tsunade-sama." Kakashi spoke up, "What's going on?"

"We have a crisis on our hands." Tsunade began.

"What kind of crisis?" asked Naruto.

"You were here earlier when Ebisu stumbled into the office, right?" Naruto nodded, "Well he and his team were ambushed by mysterious missing-nin. They have taken Konohamaru hostage and plan on using him to get the Land of Waves to hand over their ports for these missing-nin's use. For what purpose I do not know. All I know is if the Wave does not hand over their ports this missing-nin are going to kill Konohamaru and try to place the blame on the Wave so we'd go to war with them."

"What? They've got Konohamaru!" Naruto yelled.

"Easy there, you need to calm down." Kakashi asked.

"So I'm sending you two along with your team Naruto to find their hideout and rescue Konohamaru. Got it?" Tsunade said.

"Hai." both Kakashi and Naruto said.

"Good, you leave as soon as Naruto gathers his team."

The two disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared outside the Hokage tower.

"I'll wait for you at the gate." Kakashi said and disappeared. Naruto ran back to his apartment.

'_Great, the kid was asleep when I left. He's impossible to wake up without scaring him.'_ Naruto thought.

* * *

Naruto reached his aparment and quickly unlocked the door and got inside. He went straight for the couch and shook Hiroshi violently. Hiroshi groaned and saw who was shaking him.

"What is it Naruto-sensei?" Hiroshi said in a tired voice.

"Come on, get ready." Naruto stated, "We're going on an emergency A-Class mission."

Hiroshi seemed to have snapped awake, "A-Class? But we're only Genin."

"Relax, you have me and Kakashi-sensei." Naruto replied. Hiroshi quickly got ready. The two darted out the door. Naruto locked his apartment door and quickly went to their next stop. After a few minutes of roof hopping, Naruto reached their next stop and Naruto knocked on the door. A woman answered the door and recognized it as her daugher's Jounin sensei.

"Naruto-san, what can I do for you?" she said.

"Himawari, is she awake?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, do you need her for something?" the woman asked.

"Yes, Tsunade is sending me, Kakashi-sensei along with my team on an emergency mission."

The woman nodded and went back inside. A few minutes later Himawari came running out.

"Alright Naruto-sensei, I'm ready." She said smiling and the three were off to their final location before meeting up with Kakashi at the main gate. Another few minutes went by and they reached Shiro's house. Much to the luck of Naruto, Shiro was laying on the ground gazing at the night sky and Naruto leaned over into his field of vision and startled him a bit.

"Naruto-sensei?" he began slightly startled, "What are you doing here?"

"Come on, we're going on another mission. No complaints, this one's an emergency."

Shiro didn't argue and quickly got up and grabbed his ninja gear and was ready. Naruto and his team didn't waste any time and reached the gates within minutes. Waiting for them was Kakashi reading the latest copy of Icha Icha Paradise. Naruto just sighed and shook his head.

"Alright Kakashi-sensei, we're all here and ready to go." Naruto said with giving thumbs up. Kakashi just nodded.

"Alright, we better get going if we're going to get to the Land of Waves before dawn."

Naruto and his Genin just nodded and they took to tree hopping on the their way to the Land of Waves.

* * *

**I will probably update again tomorrow but until then, see ya.**


	12. Naruto and Kakashi: The Land of Waves!

**1). Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Just my own characters and storyline.**

**2.) This is the second chapter in the Rescue Konohamaru Arc, enjoy.**

* * *

**12. Naruto and Kakashi: Return to the Land of Waves!**

A blonde woman sitting at her desk poured Sake into a small glass and drank. She had been doing this for the last hour as stress had gotten the best of her. First nothing came up on Itachi and then there she learns of a crisis in the Land of Waves where a group of missing-nin had Konohamaru hostage for their own bidding. She didn't understand why they would want Konoha to go to war with the Wave. Sure, after they built the bridge, with the help of Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke in keeping the bridge builder alive, the nation began to thrive but it still didn't have ninja as it was a trading market and didn't need one. So this one question just plagued her mind after she learned of this. She turned to her assistant and first apprentice.

"Shizune, I don't understand what these fools where planning."

"What are you talking about Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked in confusion.

"Those missing-nin in the Wave, I don't understand their motive." Tsunade answered.

"I don't know either." Shizune replied.

"If they killed Konohamaru, why would they blame the Wave so we would go to war with them?" asked Tsunade who was mainly asking herself. "They don't have any ninja; it's just a trading market."

"I honestly don't know Tsunade-sama." Shizune spoke, "But there has to be some reason behind it."

Tsunade sighed, "I don't know Shizune, and it's driving me nuts and I was supposed to be smart."

* * *

Trees where rustling in the wind as faint thumps could be heard if you listened carefully, these thumps were the result of five shadowy blurs that were hoping from tree to tree. Of course, you'd have to be paying good attention if you wanted to see and hear this. Two of these blurs were side by side. 

One of them looked back, chuckled and spoke, "Kakashi-sensei, I think the Genin need a break."

Kakashi sighed, "I guess you're right."

Kakashi and Naruto stopped and three Genin stopped soon after.

"Naruto-sensei, why'd we stop?" asked Hiroshi.

Naruto chuckled, "'Cause you three are getting tired."

"Am not!" yelled Hiroshi. Shiro didn't feel like replying but Himawari was a little out of breath herself.

"I'm glad we stopped." She spoke up, "Because I was getting a bit tired myself."

Hiroshi sighed, he wanted to continue on but he was out numbered. Kakashi sat undernieth a tree and pulled out his trusty Icha Icha Paradise, through all these years, new ones kept being released and Kakashi continued to read. Naruto sighed.

'_He's still reading Ero-sennin's perverted crap.'_ Naruto thought as he watched Kakashi for a bit. Naruto was broken from his thinking when his Genin all sat in front of them. They all had curiousness in their eyes. He knew exactly what that meant, they wanted to know something about him once again.

"Naruto-sensei?" Hiroshi spoke first.

"Hai, Hiroshi?"

"Have you ever been the Wave?" Hiroshi asked.

"Hai." was all Naruto replied with. He really didn't want to tell them the story but he knew damn well they'd be persistent and continue to ask even more question. Naruto enjoyed his time with his students, but he hated their curious side and questions about Naruto's past.

"So what did you go there for?" Himawari asked next.

Naruto sighed in defeat. "It was a mission to protect a man who was building the bridge that now connects the Land of Wave to the Fire Country."

"Cool." Hiroshi said.

Naruto chuckled. "At first I thought it was just a lame C-Rank mission and that it was just as lame as all the D-Rank we did that first day."

"So what happened?" Shiro asked last.

Naruto didn't want to press the subject further and he could tell Kakashi was listening as well, maybe he'd answer that question? After a bit of silence, he knew Kakashi wasn't going to say anything so Naruto sighed in defeat once more.

"Well it turned out this guy had ninja after him. The Wave was poor at the time so they could only afford the price of a C-Rank which it should have been an B-Rank or even A-Rank."

"That sounds dangerous." Himawari said.

Kakashi finally spoke up. "You think that's dangerous, the mission we're on is an S-Rank. It's basically suicidal."

That scared the three Genin and Naruto looked at his old sensei with angry eyes.

"Great Kakashi-sensei, scare them to death."

Kakashi just gave his famous eye smile and went back on reading his book. Naruto just shook his head and closed his eyes for a bit. Kakashi's little statement completely erased what Naruto was talking about to his Genin from his mind. Of course until one of them asked another question.

"So then what happened?" asked Hiroshi. Naruto opened his eyes. After quickly remembering he was talking about his first trip to the wave he sighed. There was no way of getting out of this.

"Well we were attacked by a Jounin missing-nin named Zabuza and his kid partner Haku from Kirigakure." Naruto began, "The first time Kakashi took on Zabuza alone. Me and Sasuke had to bale him out of a trap."

Upon hearing this, Kakashi held his book up completely in front of his face. Naruto couldn't help but laugh at it.

"Anyways, that's when Haku came in. We thought he was really a hunter-nin from Kirigakure, but it turned out he was his partner when we battled them a second time on the bridge. Me and Sasuke took on Haku. After a while, Haku got Sasuke, I thought he was dead for a while. I got really angry and somehow I ended up beating the shit out of Haku."

"So what happened to them?" asked Himawari.

"Well me and Haku talked, he wanted me to kill him. I was about to before he disappeared. After the mist that was plaguing us at the time disappeared, I saw Kakashi had his arm on Haku and he was bleeding. Sure enough, he was dead. Zabuza died a little bit later before killing the man he was working for to begin with."

"Sounded like one heck of an adventure." Shiro replied.

"It sure was, I won't forget it." Naruto added.

After Naruto's little story, Kakashi put his Icha Icha Paradise back into his Kunai pouch and stood up again. Stretched a bit and turned to Naruto.

"Are your Genin ready to continue on again?" asked Kakashi. Naruto looked at his Genin.

"You guys ready?" Naruto asked. They nodded and Naruto turned back to Kakashi giving him a thumbs up.

The five ninja hopped back into the trees and began tree hoping once more in hopes of getting to the wave under the cover of darkness so they could sneak their way into the Wave so that they would not stir any unwanted attention and find the area they are holding Konohamaru hostage.

* * *

A few hours had passed and the Fifth was still at her desk. She still couldn't figure out what these missing-nin would gain if they'd successfully killed Konohamaru and did frame the Wave. Then again, now that she knows the plan, it wouldn't make sense now. 

"I need to stop care about that now." Tsunade said. Shizune just looked up at her. "What I should be worrying about is what these missing-nins true goal."

"What do you mean Tsunade-sama?" asked Shizune.

"Those bastards don't just want the Wave as their port. There has to be something bigger in this picture." Tsunade answered. "I definitely know they don't have the same ambitions as the Akatsuki does and as of now these aren't much of a threat."

"But they are because they have Konohamaru." Shizune cut in.

"I know that." Tsunade sighed, "Once Jiraiya returns, I'll have him watch these missing-nin. They have something far bigger planned just needing a port."

* * *

A thick mist has rolled in not too long ago after leaving the resting spot the five Konoha ninja were at. It was a sign they were getting close. They were in luck that mist had come, it would hide their movements across the bridge when they came across it. Sure enough, shortly after running into mist did these ninja reach a massive bridge. The five ninja stopped shortly before it. 

"Wow, that's a huge bridge." Hiroshi said. Himawari walked up to the sign that was nearby and read out loud.

"'The Great Naruto Bridge.'"

Shiro and Hiroshi just looked at Naruto that just screamed 'what?' Naruto just scratched the back of his head.

"They named the bridge after me?" Naruto asked.

"Well you were inspirational." Kakashi spoke up, but something told Naruto he was being more sarcastic than serious.

"Is Naruto-sensei that great?" asked Shiro.

"He just has a way with words, I honestly don't know how he does it, but he can change people's outlook on life or anything else." Kakashi asked before Naruto replied with something stupid or cocky.

Naruto chuckled, "It's just part of my ninja way."

"Well let's get across this bridge, we're supposed to meet up with the leader of the Wave." Kakashi spoke up.

The five ninja quietly made their way across the massive bridge. The three Genin couldn't believe that a bridge this big could exist but never-the-less, they continued foot behind their sensei who was standing behind Kakashi. They reached the half-way part in just a few short minutes and waited. About ten minutes passed by when a figure revealed itself in the mist and it got closer and closer and closer to the man was visible. He looked at the five ninja.

"You must be the team from Konoha hear to free your hostage, correct?" the man asked.

"Are you the leader of the Wave?" asked Kakashi.

The man, who was wearing a black suit and with a stripped tie, nodded then he motioned them to follow him. They descended down stairs that were on a nearby pillar that was holding part of the bridge up. They entered a small utility room that was well lit. The five ninja joined the well-dressed man. That's when the man recognized one of the ninja.

"Ka-kakashi-san?" asked the man. Kakashi was quite taken back that this man knew him.

"How do you know my name?" asked the now suspicious Jounin.

"Don't you remember me? It's me, Inari."

Kakashi's eyes widened. "My, my, how have you grown, I didn't recognize you at all."

"Inari? You got to be kidding me!" yelled Naruto. Inari turned his attention to the loud blonde and his eyes widened when he recognized him too.

"Naruto? Is that really you?"

"Of course it's me!" yelled Naruto and standing and giving a thumbs up.

"You know him, Naruto-sensei?" asked Himawari.

"Yeah, he's the grandson of Tazuna, that bridge builder I was to guard when I first came here." Naruto answered.

"Wow." was all Himawari could say.

"Say, how's the old man anyway?" asked Naruto. Inari's face turned sad and he looked at the ground.

"My grandfather died a few years ago from an illness." Inari replied. Naruto's face fell.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, you didn't know." Inari said. Kakashi then spoke up.

"So then you're the leader of the Wave?"

Inari nodded. "After Gato was defeated, the villagers chose my grandfather to lead the village and we began to prosper after trading began. Well when he died a few years ago, the village chose me and now I have this crisis on my hands."

Kakashi nodded, "Go on."

"Well you probably know the full story, these group of missin-nin took your comrade in hopes to make us give up the port so they could use it to ship in some sort of weapon. What they plan is to kill Konohamaru so Konoha would seize the Wave and they'd come in and buy the ports at a high price." Inari continued.

"So that's it, eh?" Kakashi said. "Well we have no time to lose, do you know where they're holding Konohamaru?"

"They're holding him in one of the warehouses on the west dock." Inari answered.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" yelled Naruto. Kakashi and Inari just nodded and left the utility room. The fighting was just about to begin.

* * *

**Hmm, Inari in a suit and a leader of a nation. What was I thinking? Oh well, until next time, adios!**


	13. Hiroshi's First Real Fight!

**1). Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, just my own characters on storyline.**

**2). This is the third chapter in the Rescue Konohamaru Arc so enjoy.**

* * *

**12. Hiroshi's First Real Fight!**

The dim moonlight filtered through large windows at the top of an old run down warehouse. Empty crates upon crates were scattered and stacked around the large room. It looked as if it hadn't been used in years. Inside a smaller room at the back of the warehouse held a man tied to a chair and was asleep. The man had scratches across his face and bruises here and there on his arms. His clothes were dirty and torn in places. He looked like he was in bad shape. Now the man began to stir and move around. Slowly his eyes opened and he looked around for a few seconds until pain from a massive headache made him wince.

The man groaned, _'I feel like my head is being beaten with a freaking brick.'_ He thought. The man looked around the room and noticed he was tied to a chair.

'_What the hell? Where am I?'_ The man screamed in his head. Then he thought back to what happened earlier. _'Now I remember'_

**Flashback:**

"_So the trade is set then?" asked Ebisu._

"_Yes, I believe so." answered a man in a black suit._

"_Alright then Inari-sama, thank you for your time." Ebisu said._

"_No need to call me Inari-sama, Ebisu-san. I should be the one thank you and If this work, both of our nations will be happy now." Inari said._

"_Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi, we're off." Ebisu said and the four exited the building._

_The four ninja headed for the bridge. It was morning and it only took a few hours to get the deal between Konoha and the Wave done to both nation's liking. When they approached the bridge a old man wearing a blue cloak and typical ninja attire and a couple of more people were standing at the bridge. The man in the blue cloak approached Ebisu._

"_I think we're about to get into some trouble." Ebisu said signaling his team to stop. The man stopped just short and stared. Ebisu realized who that man was._

"_Kami, what the hell are you doing here?" Ebisu asked in an angry, cold voice._

_The man laughed, "I'm here to take you hostage."_

_It was Ebisu's turn to laugh; "Now why would you want to do that?"_

"_It's really none of your business. Just come with me."_

_Moegi turned around and yelled. "Konohamaru, watch out!"_

**End of Flashback.**

That was the last thing Konohamaru remembered. Now he woke up in this dark room in some unknown building. His was brought out of his thoughts when heard two people talking. One was an older man, and one sounded like a kid of twelve or thirteen years old.

"What is it Sumi?" Konohamaru heard the older man ask.

"Konoha ninja are here." the boy answered.

"That's good, then they're here to seize the Wave."

"No, there's only five." the boy said.

"Well Sumi, Konoha is a very strong ninja village. They could possibly only need five to seize control of this pathetic nation." the man replied.

"Well I spied like you wanted me to and I was around Inari-san when he told his council Konoha was to be here tonight. They know about our plans." the boy said.

"Well Sumi, go up ahead and hold them off. I have to call a few more of us." The man said. Konohamaru could hear the footsteps as the headed off and became faint after every passing second.

'_So they did come for me.'_

* * *

Six figures walked the bridge quietly without wanting to be noticed. Five were ninja and one was had a black suit on. The five were from Konoha while the man in the black suit was the leader of the very nation the Konoha ninja were in. They didn't want to get whoever kidnapped Konohamaru aware of their presence, just yet anyways. When they reached the end of the bridge where the village would begin stood a child. His short black hair waves just a little bit in the breeze. His eyes were a light shade of grey and he was wearing a blue shirt and black pants. 

"I'm sorry, but I cannot let you pass." the boy said. Inari believed to be a prank.

"Sumi, cut it out. We have no time for this." Inari said.

Sumi laughed, "I spied for him."

"What?" Inari asked in confusion.

"I work for the man who kidnapped that Shinobi these Konoha ninja want to rescue."

Inari's eyes widened. He didn't want to believe it at first but he put on the blue cloak that the missing-nin that were here had on.

"Why?" Inari asked.

"I was always with him. I was an orphan and then he found me and took me in. You should of known Inari, for as smart as you are, you should of known." Sumi said.

"Why you little bastard!" yelled Inari.

"Didn't you find it strange I appeared right after this incident. Surely I couldn't have been here for all my life without you noticing me once. This place is small, and you surely are pathetic."

"That does it, I'm going to take on this guy!" yelled Hiroshi. Naruto turned to him.

"I don't think you're ready quite yet."

"Bullshit, I am ready Naruto-sensei, let me handle him and the rest of you try and find Konohamaru-san."

Naruto sighed. "Fine, you better escape and hide if you can't defeat him."

"Don't worry about me sensei, I'll beat him." Hiroshi said with confidence. The five ninja and Inari all took off. Sumi turned to stop them all when he felt he was being held down.

"I don't think so dipshit, your opponent is me." Hiroshi said. Sumi turned to him.

"Very well, it will be a pleasure to kill a ninja from the great Konoha." Sumi replied.

Sumi quickly disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

'_So it was a clone the whole time. Wonderful.' _Hiroshi thought look around. Suddenly he sensed something was flying his way and did a summersault jump backwards to dodge whatever it was. Four Kunai hit the ground where Hiroshi was standing just moments ago. It lead Hiroshi to where Sumi's location was, on top of the bridge pillar. Hiroshi quickly pulled out a few Shuriken from his holster and threw them at Sumi. Sumi easily dodged them and jumped down to land a fist on top of Hiroshi's head. He fell to the ground.

"You can't beat me." Sumi said, "You're just a Genin."

"Yeah well me and you are the same age, so we have about the same amount of Chakra."

"Maybe so, but you'll still lose." Sumi said.

Hiroshi took the advantage. While the kid was talking away, Hiroshi sweep kicked him off his feet. Sumi hit the ground pretty hard. Hiroshi grabbed him, he filled his hands with some Chakra and then punched Sumi in the face and Sumi began to fly backwards through the air. Hiroshi quickly went through seals and disappeared. Sumi got back up only to find that Hiroshi had disappeared.

"Where the hell did he go?" Sumi asked himself. Suddenly he heard a voice.

"Right where you least expect me." The voice said and two hands came out of the ground holding Sumi's ankle.

"What the hell?" Sumi asked in disbelief.

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu!" yelled Hiroshi and quickly pulled Sumi underground with only his head sticking out. Hiroshi now toward over Sumi and stared at him with an evil but victorious eye.

"My father taught me a few Doton jutsu's. That was one of them." Hiroshi said pulling out a Kunai. "Now you die."

Hiroshi then took his Kunai, and forced it into Sumi's head. Hiroshi thought he killed him only for Sumi to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"Son of a bitch, how did he do that?" Hiroshi questioned.

"When you disappeared, I quickly made a Kage Bushin and disappeared out of sight and just waited." Sumi said from behind Hiroshi. Hiroshi quickly turned around. "It's fun toying with you."

Hiroshi just laughed. Hiroshi's laughing hit a nerve with Sumi.

"Now we'll see who be the one laughing now after this one." Sumi said quickly going through a lot of seals, more than Hiroshi had to go through. "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!"

The ground began to shake and out of the ocean came a huge dragon made of completely of water. Hiroshi just stared at it.

"What the hell is that?" asked Hiroshi who was obvious scared now. The dragon of pure water now charged at Hiroshi. Hiroshi's eyes widened and he was too scared to move. The water hit its target and it slammed Hiroshi into a large metal structure at the end of the bridge. Hiroshi struggled but couldn't get up right away, the force of the impact knocked the strength out of his body for now. He looked at Sumi who just smirked.

"I see that shut you up." Sumi said. "It's time to finish this little game of ours."

Sumi began to go through seals once again. Hiroshi watched, this time he was prepared for whatever was going to come at him.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" yelled Sumi and water from the ocean rised once more and started spinning like a vortex and quickly headed in Hiroshi's direction. Hiroshi went through a couple of seals just in time as the water vortex crashed into the metal structure. The force of the attack caused it to break at the base and fall over. The water receded and Sumi's triumphant smirk was quickly erased from his face when he saw a log where Hiroshi was sitting before the vortex hit.

'_Damn it he used the Kawarimi no Jutsu.'_

"Doton: Doryudan!" Hiroshi said to himself. The ground began to shake and a large dragon head made of the earth arised. Sumi's water attack created a mist, he did not see what made the ground shake so bad. It was too late when he saw round spheres of earth coming at him. They all hit Sumi with a strong force and Sumi hit the ground and didn't even try to move. Hiroshi just walked to Sumi and stood over him. Hiroshi could see all the places his attack hit him and he knew he was injured to the point to where he couldn't continue the fight. Hiroshi wanted to make sure he was finished and so he grabbed Sumi by his shirt and lifted him off the ground. Sumi could barely open his eyes to face his demise.

"See what happens when you underestimate people just by appearance?" Hiroshi said who was breathing hard.

Hiroshi than gathered Chakra in his right fist and punch Sumi in the stomach and Hiroshi ran, placing Charka in his leg and kicked Sumi into the ground. This time for sure Sumi wasn't going to get up again. Hiroshi just stood over his defeated opponent and shook his head in disappointment. Hiroshi then quickly went off in search for his sensei and teammates.

* * *

"Ok here we are; the warehouses of the west dock." Inari said. 

"Which one is it?" asked Naruto.

"I don't know." Inari replied.

Naruto got angry and hit Inari over the head. "What the hell do you mean you don't know?"

Inari rubbed the part of his head that Naruto hit and spoke, "I just know they are here."

"Well I guess we better split up and look through all these warehouses." Kakashi said.

The five ninja nodded and all disappeared. Inari just watched as the ninja began their work.

'_Being a ninja must be so cool.'_ Inari thought while sighing, _'I hope you find your comrade.'_

* * *

**I know, a quick battle and wasn't as long as Naruto's against Sasuke, but hey, Hiroshi will have another fight soon enough so until next time, see ya.**


	14. The Search for Konohamaru

**1.) Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, just my own characters and the storyline.**

**2.) This is the fourth chapter in the Rescue Konohamaru arc.**

**3.) Enjoy.**

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**14. The Search for Konohamaru**

Dead silence. It was all that was in the chilled air surrounding the small island nation known as the Land of Waves. Once a dirt poor nation, now thriving after Tazuna's bridge connected the island to the main land of the Fire Country. But soon the silence was to end when ninja from Konohagakure stepped inside the West Dock filled with warehouses. Some were abandoned, but many were still used to keep up with daily trading among nations, especially Konoha. The five looked around, there had to be at least fifteen to twenty warehouses in this place alone. Next came a lazy sigh that came from the oldest member of the group.

"I guess from here we split up and search warehouse by warehouse," the man with silver hair said.

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei," the blonde haired man said.

"Ok Naruto, I will go to that one at the end of the dock. The rest start searching these ones here." Kakashi said pointing at the warehouses that were on the left closest to them.

"Hai" was all Naruto replied with. Kakashi began heading down the dock.

Shiro and Himawari, who were standing near Naruto, looked up at their sensei with slight confusion, they didn't know what they were supposed to really do.

"Uh, Naruto-sensei?" spoke Himawari.

"Let me guess, you want to know what to do?" asked Naruto.

"Hai."

Naruto sighed, "Like what Kakashi-sensei just told us, split up and start searching through the warehouses."

"Hai," replied both Himawari and Shiro.

Himawari and Shiro both disappeared to other Warehouses nearby. Naruto looked at the first one, _'I guess this I'll check this one first.'_

* * *

Heavy breathing, all could be heard from a boy running as fast as he could. The boy didn't want to admit, but he was tired and after the battle he just got out of, he was even more exhausted. He used a lot of his Chakra on that fight alone and he was about to get into even more serious fight, a fight to save Konohamaru. The boy was going to be honest, he didn't know him to well, all he really knew was he was the soul survivor of the Sarutobi clan, and the grandson of the Sandaime Hokage but since Konohamaru was a Shinobi of Konoha, he was going to rescue him just like his sensei and his teammates as well as his sensei's old sensei.

'_Now where did Inari-san say Konohamaru was being held prisoner at,'_ the boy thought but was cut out of his thoughts when he hit something, realizing it was a person he bowed and apologized.

"Gomen, I wasn't paying attention where I was going."

"Oh Hiroshi-san, it's alright." The man in a suit said.

Hiroshi realized who it was, "Inari-san!"

"I see you're still alive, so I assume you won?" asked Inari.

"Yeah, it took a little effort, but I managed to defeat him. If you want to put him in jail or something, he's still on the bridge out cold." Hiroshi said.

"Thanks." Inari replied. Suddenly Hiroshi remembered that he couldn't remember where Konohamaru was being kept prisoner.

"Oh, Inari-san, where did you say Konohamaru might be held at?" asked Hiroshi.

"Somewhere in the West dock," Inari answered. "The west dock is over there."

"Airgato, Inari-san," Hiroshi said and began running in the direction Inari was pointing in.

* * *

Naruto found the front door to the warehouse he was going to enter in was locked. How the hell was he going to get in now? With no alternative, Naruto decided to break the lock off. He began forming blue Chakra into his left hand.

"Rasengan!" he yelled and he pushed his hand with the Rasengan in full form into the lock breaking into pieces.

"Well that was simple." Naruto said to himself and began pulling off the chains and opened the door.

Naruto peered inside but there was nothing but pure darkness. Naruto entered and stumbled around for any kind of light switch of some sort. He found a button and pressed it and fortunate for him, it was the light switch and light finally entered the warehouse. It was full of crates marked for shipping to lands around the world. Some places that Naruto had never even thought existed were stored in this one facility, and after looking around it for a minute or two, he came to one conclusion:

"Damn, this place is fucking big." Naruto said to himself. He didn't really want to search this whole damn building, but if he was going to find Konohamaru, he had to.

Naruto walked further into the Warehouse, looking around to see if any signs of people being here or holding anyone hostage. After a few minutes he reached the back of the warehouse where an office lied. Naruto reached for the doorknob and turned it, sure enough, it was locked. Naruto sighed and just kicked the door in. Inside the office was a file cabinet in the back of the office in the left hand corner, a small bookshelf in the back in the right hand corner, and a desk in the middle with paper scattered across it with a few pens and pencils on top. Nothing, it was a normal office, Konohamaru was surely not here. Naruto sighed and turned around and closed the door, though he broke the latch on the wall, so the door didn't close and crept open a bit but Naruto didn't really care. We walked a couple of feet when suddenly he heard the front doors of the warehouse close.

'_Son of a bitch, what's going on now?'_ Naruto thought as he waited. Sure enough he heard footsteps echoing through the warehouse, he knew they were not his because he was standing still. Someone entered and was approaching. Naruto concealed himself and his Chakra and waited. Soon the footsteps stopped and Naruto waited in pure silence, that is until whoever was there spoke.

"I know you're in here, ninja from Konoha," said a male voice.

"What of it?" asked Naruto.

"Come out and fight me," said the man. "Come out and fight me you hiding coward."

"Ok." Naruto said from behind the man and slammed his foot across the back of his head knocking him out. "So much for the fight, it was really short."

Naruto then ran to the warehouse door opened it a bit and ran out. He closed it and wrapped the chains around it.

"That should keep the bastard in there for a bit." Naruto said to himself and looked around at all the warehouses. "Screw it, I'm going to the one Kakashi went to."

* * *

**Thump.** The sound that was heard when two feet had just hit the grounds outside the entrance to the West Dock. These two feet began running again towards the direction of the first Warehouse.

"Naruto-sensei!" the owner of the two feet yelled.

"Ah, Hiroshi, I see you're back in one piece." Naruto joked.

"Of course, I told you not to worry." Hiroshi said.

"Well since you're back, go ahead and start looking through the warehouses." Naruto said, "One of them contains Konohamaru."

"Hai, Naruto-sensei," he said and ran off to a nearby warehouse. Naruto than took off for the one at the end of the dock.

* * *

Himawari stood staring at the chained wide door that gave entrance to the warehouse. She didn't know what to do. How could she get inside if the damn door was locked to begin with? Oh how this mission was turning out to be a drag, or at least she thought until just touching the lock revealed it was dummy locked to begin with.

"Well, I should of thought of that sooner," she said to herself and took of the lock and removed the chains and began to slide the large door open just enough to get her inside into total darkness. "It's scary in here."

Himawari lit a match and saw a switch and pressed it. All the lights in the warehouse turned on revealing it was abandoned, with broken or empty crates scattered here or there. She noticed the office way at the back of the warehouse on the second floor.

"I guess if I held someone hostage, I'd hold them in a smaller room like that office up there." Himawari said to herself. She walked over to the stairs that led to the metal walking area on near the roof and began walking toward the office. When she reached the office she checked the door to see if it was locked and to her luck, it was.

"Another locked door, that's just wonderful." She said to herself and decided to just look in the big window. That planned failed as it was dark inside the office, she just knocked on the door loud to see if she could hear anyone yell or move inside. Silence, all Himawari got was silence. No one was in this warehouse. Himawari turned around and began walking back to the stair case. About half way she noticed someone walking inside. The warehouse was well lit so she could tell it was a woman with orange hair and wearing a blue cloak. Himawari tried her best to hide herself up there on that rack, but since it was just metal and you could see, it was no use. Soon enough the woman that had walked inside the warehouse noticed her and an evil smirk came across her face.

"Well, well," she began, "Looks like I found one of you."

Himawari began to get scared a bit. _'I guess I'm about to have a fight.'_

"Come down here and face me," the woman said. "This is a fight you will not win."

* * *

Hiroshi reached a warehouse where neither his teammates had entered. Just like the luck of Naruto and Himawari, this warehouse was locked too. Hiroshi than noticed a whole in the steel frame a few feet away from the door. Hiroshi began to walk around to the side and noticed a whole was in the steel structure. It was big enough from him to fit through it and entered inside the facility, thinking nothing of how the extra entry got there in the first place. The lights were on in, and again Hiroshi didn't think too much of it. All that was on the boy's mind was finding Konohamaru. Hiroshi began searching the warehouse, it was hard to get around, and it was like a maze. A path would lead to a dead end since the warehouse was pretty much filled with crates. Hiroshi continued to search until a shadow caught his eye and he looked up to see a man with dirty blonde hair wearing a blue cloak standing on a tower of creates.

"I see I found my opponent," the man said straight up.

"How did you get in here?" asked a surprised Hiroshi.

"Simple, I forced my way in."

Suddenly it clicked. The hole in the steel frame outside, the lights already being on meaning this guy was in the warehouse before Hiroshi even got here. He was waiting for someone the whole time.

"I guess I'm going to have to fight you then." Hiroshi finally spoke after placing all the pieces together.

"Feisty, aren't we?" said the man.

* * *

Shiro had been standing outside this particular warehouse for about fifteen minutes already. He noticed Himawari find a way inside hers, he saw Naruto run down the dock and Hiroshi disappear going around to the side of the Warehouse he chose. Shiro just sighed as he looked at the chains locked with a pad lock.

"Just my luck, I'm the one that can't find a way inside period." Shiro said to himself, then he realized something.

Shiro ran to the back of the warehouse were there was a small door and to Shiro's luck, it wasn't locked and Shiro entered. The warehouse was empty, but the lights were on anyway. Shiro walked a few feet inside the warehouse and took a long look around and even above on the metal rack that looked more like a second floor to find nothing. The place was completely empty and was no sign of anyone being held captive here. Shiro heard the back door creep open and a man with black hair with red dye on his bangs weaing a blue cloak walked in.

"Looks like I get to have some fun," the man said.

"Who are you?" Shiro asked.

"Your opponent, that's all you need to know," replied the man who was just staring at Shiro in amusement.

'_This is bad, this guy looks insane.'_ Shiro thought as he stepped back and prepared for a long struggle.

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**As you can see, this chapter was mainly how Hiroshi, Shiro and Himawari run into their opponents in the warehouses and as for the man Naruto "easily" defeated, he'll play a role later on in the fic. Until next time, goodbye.**


	15. The Last of a Clan!

**1.) Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and never will. I only own my characters I created for this story as well as the storyline.**

**2.) This is the fifth chapter in the Rescue Konohamaru Arc, enjoy.**

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**15. The Last of a Clan!**

A man with silver hair and wearing the usual Jounin outfit was standing before the warehouse at the end of the dock. It was the last one to be checked. The ones the other members of the party sent on this mission have searched their respective warehouses they choose. This was the last one, if this wasn't it, they were lead wrong and there would be no telling where Konohamaru was now. Who knows? Maybe since Sumi was a spy, they already knew Konoha was here and decided to move to another location somewhere on this very island. All these thoughts went through the Jounin's mind until he was brought out of them after hearing loud footsteps that sounded like whatever was coming was running.

"Kakashi-sensei!" a voice yelled. Kakashi turned around to find Naruto running toward him. He shook his head and let out a sigh.

'_Baka.' _He thought and finally the blonde reached him. Naruto was out of breath.

"What is it Naruto?" asked Kakashi. "And what are you doing here?"

"Hold on," Naruto said between breaths. "Let me answer the first one."

"I'm waiting." Kakashi said who was starting to get impatient.

"This is a trap, it's all a trap." Naruto replied, "Whoever these people are, they know were here now and are looking for a fight."

Kakashi sighed, he knew it was too quiet to haven't been noticed or not known they were there in the first place. It all didn't make sense and he ended up not being careful enough to fall into useless fights.

"I should have known." Kakashi finally spoke up.

"I managed to knock out the one after me, but I'm worried about Himawari, Shiro and Hiroshi." Naruto said.

"Oh, Hiroshi's back?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah, he managed to beat that Sumi guy." Naruto answered.

"Then they'll be okay, they can hold their own then and that Sumi said he was a spy for whoever he was working for, right?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah." replied Naruto.

"Then they already knew we were coming before we even got here." Kakashi said. "Damn it."

"I was hoping we didn't get into any real confrontation." Naruto said.

"So did I," Kakashi replied. "Now it looks like that won't be the case."

"I guess we should take a look inside this building anyways." Naruto said.

Kakashi didn't say a word and slide the huge tan door open.

* * *

Konohamaru was staring at the ceiling. He just woke up an hour ago and right then he overheard his captors saying Konoha ninja were coming. He sighed thinking they knew he awoke and said those things to torture him mentally. He wanted to get out of this place so badly, not to mention the back of his head was still throbbing like crazy were apparently someone hit him to knock him out in the first place. Konohamaru sighed again; he just wanted to go home and also cursed himself for getting into a situation as this.

'_I need to be more alert.' _Konohamaru thought suddenly he heard a knock.

Konohamaru didn't say anything and just watched as the door began to open slowly. A dark shadow entered the room and just stayed. Though Konohamaru couldn't see, he could feel he was being stared at by whomever was at the door. He heard and evil laugh come from him.

"Looks like they're finally here for you," a male voice said coming from the shadow standing at the door.

Konohamaru didn't reply but was glad that Konoha really did come after all and it just wasn't some cruel joke but the man spoke again.

"But they'll never live long enough to find you."

"They'll beat you all, especially if Naruto-niisan is with them!" yelled Konohamaru. In reply he got a laugh.

"Uzumaki Naruto, eh? The demon brat?" the man question rhetorically. "He'll couldn't beat an academy student, he's weak."

"H-how do you know Naruto-niisan?" asked Konohamaru who was shocked.

"It's none of your business," said the man and he slammed the door closed. Konohamaru could tell he was no longer there.

'_Who was that guy?'_

* * *

"Well it looks like we found the place." Kakashi said after entering the large building.

"Yeah." Naruto replied looking around the warehouse noticing there were chairs surrounding a long table and it looked to have lots of documents of some kind on it.

"Looks like plans." Kakashi said skimming through them. "I'll give these to Tsunade-sama and she can look it over."

Kakashi took out empty scrolls and did some hand seals and sealed the documents in the scroll and placed the scroll back into one of the pockets on his vest.

"You have no use for those," said an eerie almost demonic sounding voice.

Naruto and Kakashi looked up and around and did not find anything. Where was that voice coming from? Both Naruto and Kakashi were thinking the same thing and got ready to do battle as one could start any second now.

"Look at you two. Getting ready for battle," said the voice again. "I can smell the slight fear you're giving off."

'_Who the hell is this person?'_ Naruto thought in slight fear, he had no idea who was talking or who he would be up against, but whatever the case, this person was sounded very strong just by his strong, evil voice. Soon an image of a man standing on the balcony on the second floor, he had his back turned so all you could really see was his blue cloak that had a symbol that represented a tornado or something of the sort and his hood.

"The man that I knocked out had a blue cloak too." Naruto said quietly so only Kakashi could hear.

"Hmm," was all Kakashi replied with as he stared at the man on the second floor balcony.

The man turned around and revealed his head. His long red hair trickled down after he removed the hood. He had his eyes closed though. He slowly opened his eyes and gave a side look at Naruto and Kakashi. When the light finally reflected off, Kakashi could tell the eye color was tan. Naruto noticed this too.

"What the hell? Tan eyes?" Naruto said in disbelief.

"No, this can't be." Kakashi spoke ignoring Naruto's question.

Naruto turned to Kakashi, "What do you mean?"

Kakashi didn't reply as he stared at the man in disbelief. The man noticed the disbelief look on Kakashi's face and smirked and faced them fully. The evil, hate and kill intent in his eyes were finally seen and it scared Naruto for the first time in a long time.

"The killing intent in his eyes is so strong." Naruto said in fear.

The man spoke, "One can't believe I exist while the other is in complete fear, pitiful."

"Who are you?" asked Kakashi.

"Me? Should I tell you my name or should I leave you in the dark?" the man replied.

"I'm not here to play games, who the hell are you?" Kakashi asked again.

"Fine, I guess I should tell you then," said the man. "My name is Sunaarashi Akuma."

Kakash's eyes widened. He couldn't believe his last name, 'Sunaarashi.' Could it be? No, this man was lying, but he had the tan eyes to prove it. Just how?

"How can that be?" yelled Kakashi. "The Sunaarashi clan was wiped out years ago!"

"Yes, but a child who was hidden survived, and that child was me."

"What?" Kakashi asked.

Akuma just laughed in amusement. Kakashi was so shocked to find one still remained and as for Naruto, he just couldn't grasp what was going on. That was probably because 25 years ago was the year he was born.

"This can't be, all the Sunaarashi clan was ordered to be executed by the Sandaime Kazekage as they were afraid they'd go insane and destroy the village." Kakashi said.

"True, and they were executed, but they hid me so I would survive and I did and one day I'll avenge their death and completely wipe out Sunagakure." Akuma said. "But until then, I'll serve under _him._"

"And who is that?" asked Naruto finally getting over his fear.

"No one you should be concerned about." Akuma answered.

"Well if your ambition is to wipe out Sunagakure, it will be my duty not to let you." Kakashi said.

"Now why would you care?" Akuma asked, "Don't those fools attack your village years ago, so I've heard, betraying you."

"Yes, but under false guidance of our must notorious missing-nin named Orochimaru." Kakashi replied. "After that we became allies with Suna."

"The great Konoha and it's will of fire and its easiness to forgive. So pathetic if you ask me." Akuma said in a slightly angered voice.

Even though Akuma looked and acted evil, the hint of pain in his eyes could not go unnoticed by Naruto. Loneliness, this feeling always hunting him, he could always find this feeling in other people who were just like him, left in the world to fend for himself and this guy was one of those he could see.

"I can see it in your eyes," Naruto spoke up, "Even though you act hateful, I can still see the pain in your eyes."

Kakashi turned to Naruto wondering what he was going on about.

"What are you talking about fool?" yelled Akuma.

"Don't deny it, you still feel lonely, don't you?" asked a clam Naruto.

"What do you care?" asked Akuma as they boy was figuring him out.

"I know it all too well." Naruto spoke as he was started to remember his past once more and began getting sad.

"You have no idea what it means to be alone!" screamed Akuma as he let the pain he held inside all his life consume him.

"I don't? I grew up without any parents. The whole village hated me. They threw rocks at me and told me to die. They'd tell their kids not to have anything to do with me right in front of my face. It nearly killed me inside, but I was going to show them. I would show them all." Naruto spoke, speaking of his past.

Kakashi knew Naruto had been alone all his life, but knew nothing about other hardships.

"It took me twelve years to finally get someone to notice me as a person." Naruto said who began to cry. "Tell me now that I don't know what being alone is like."

Akuma didn't say nothing at first then looked up, "Well that means you and me are alike, but none the less, I still work for _him_ and I've been told to stop you from rescuing that runt at all costs!"

"Nice try Naruto, but looks like we have to fight the man." Kakashi said. "You go after Konohamaru, I'll stay and take care of this guy."

"Are you sure Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, now go!" Kakashi yelled.

Naruto began running towards the back of the warehouse for any signs of Konohamaru. Akuma noticed this and tried to stop him. He appeared on the warehouse floor and started to go after Naruto, but Kakashi intercepted Akuma.

"I don't think so, Akuma." Kakashi said, "Your opponent is me."

Akuma smirked, "Very well, I'll be gladly kill you and that way I could get that Naruto guy to join up with us."

Kakashi began to laugh which angered Akuma. "He'd never join up with a bunch of dumbasses like you."

"That's a shame, so then I'll enjoy killing you both."

Kakashi then pulled up his forehead protector revealing his left eye. He opened it revealing his Sharingan.

"The last of the clan dies today!" yelled Kakashi and the battle between the two was just about to begin.

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**A chapter with Kakashi and Naruto's meeting with Akuma, and some light on his past. Akuma will be a main villian along with two others including the one they all call "him". Until next time, see ya.**


	16. They Clash! Kakashi VS Akuma!

**1). Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I only own the characters I've created in this story as well as the story plot.**

**2). This is the sixth chapter in the Rescue Konohamaru Arc, enjoy**

**3). I got bored so I decided to write another chapter so here it is. I might not get to update again until saturday, but who knows, maybe sooner.**

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**16. They Clash! Kakashi VS Akuma!**

Kakashi stood his ground near the entrance to the warehouse, while Akuma stood a few feet away. It was a stare down that lasted what seemed forever. Naruto, while searching through all the clutter of crates and signs of people actually being here could see the two just standing there staring.

'_What the hell is Kakashi-sensei doing?'_ Thought Naruto and continued his search through the god awful maze.

Kakashi just stared as if he was trying to read Akuma with his Sharingan, anything for a first move. Then again, using the Sharingan against this opponent wouldn't help much.

'_Sharingan is useless, I won't be able to copy anything that has to do with sand since his clan's Kekkei Genkai is the ability to create and control sand.' _Kakashi thought. _'Unlike Gaara, who has only has the power by using a gourd along with the demon Shukaku, he can create it and use it to his full potential. I must be careful.'_

"Sharingan, eh?" Akuma finally spoke. Kakashi's eyes widened and Akuma laughed, "Shocked? Yes I know about it. Who hasn't?"

"Do you know anything about it?" asked Kakashi.

"The only thing I know is it copies an opponents Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu. I'm sure there is more to it than that, but no worries, you will not be able to copy my ninjutsu," said Akuma.

"Well you do not know the full strength of it and that will be your downfall." Kakashi said.

"Well let's see about that!" yelled Akuma and raised his hands quickly in the air and sand began to form around him.

'_Crap.'_ Kakashi thought as he saw the events unfolding right before his eyes.

Soon a whole ball of sand was swirling in the air, waiting. Akuma than extended his hand forward and the giant ball of sand changed into a giant hand and headed for Kakashi. When the sand surrounded Kakashi, Akuma pulled back his hand and the sand wrapped around Kakashi and began to crush him, at least to Akuma's knowledge anyway. After a few minutes of crushing, Akuma dispersed the sand and it fell on the floor. To Akuma's surprised, all that was left was pieces of an empty crate.

"What's this?" asked Akuma to himself. Akuma then felt a Kunai across his throat.

"It was a simple Kawarimi no Jutsu." Kakashi said.

"That was clever, but you messed but by being this close to me." Akuma said, he did one seal with his right hand and the sand began twirling around him like a vortex. This forced Kakashi into the air and into a row of empty crates breaking a few but disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"A bushin?" Akuma said out of surprise. _'This Kakashi's no pushover.'_

Suddenly an army of flying Kunai came at Akuma, he easily jumped back and to his surprise a kick connected with his face causing him to spin backwards and hit the ground. Kakashi began to go through seals.

'_Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu.'_

Nothing. Akuma just stared and started laughing. Kakashi just smirked.

"What was that 'Make-a-Fool-of-Myself no Jutsu?'" Akuma said within laughter.

Kakashi smirked with his eye once more, "Do you know what happens to sand when it gets wet?"

Akuma stopped laughing and a puzzled look formed on his face. What the hell did he mean by that? Suddenly water broke through the windows and entrance while Kakashi jumped out of the way. The spinning vortex of water was heading straight for Akuma.

"What the hell!" yelled Akuma as the attack slammed into Akuma causing him to spin in the whirlpool and slammed into the wall of the warehouse. Naruto had been watching that part for some time now.

"Wow," was all he said and quickly went back to lucking for Konohamaru.

Akuma slowly got up, he should of known it was an attack and Kakashi was playing him good.

"Why you stupid bastard," Akuma began, "You got me all soaked."

Kakashi stayed silent.

"No matter." Akuma said raising his hand and performing one seal. "This should take care of you."

Mud the sand was turned into after Kakashi's water attack nearly flooded the place began to rise into the air behind Akuma. Kakashi just watched wondering what was next. The mud began to mold into large, sharp spikes and Akuma just smirked.

"I'd like to thank you Kakashi," Akuma began, "Without that water technique, I wouldn't have been able to use this Jutsu."

'_Crap, what the hell did I do?'_ Kakashi thought. _'Using that was a bad idea after all.'_

"Doro Kasui Shikyo no Jutsu! (Mud Spikes of Death Technique)" Akuma yelled and waved his arms.

The harden spikes all charged at Kakashi. Kakashi dodged them all much to Akuma's dismay. Kakashi suddenly appeared right by Akuma and punched him in the stomach, then kicked him in the side which caused Akuma to fly into a crate. Akuma quickly got up but was met from an uppercut by Kakashi. While Akuma flew backwards he managed to kick Kakashi but it disappeared into a puff of smoke revealing it was another bushin. Akuma landed on his back hard. He struggled to get up for a bit but he managed to get his footing.

"You're a speedy opponent, I'll give you that." Akuma said.

"Give it up, you may be powerful but you cannot win." Kakashi said.

"I'm just getting started." Akuma replied.

Kakashi sighed, "Your hateful ambitions will only be your downfall."

Akuma laughed, "I will defeat you just wait!"

Just as Akuma finished talking a huge wall of sand rose from the ground. It stood in place for about a couple of minutes.

"What? Are you just going to toy with me or you actually going to fight?" asked Kakashi.

Akuma then yelled, "Suna Tsunami no Jutsu!"

The sand began to move and turned into a huge tidal wave of pure sand. Kakashi embraced himself as there was no where to dodge, the whole warehouse had the wave a sand and it plummeted into Kakashi and everything around him. After a few seconds the attack was over and practically the whole warehouse floor was covered in sand and Kakashi wasn't anywhere to be found. Naruto witnessed this while going to the second floor after searching the entire warehouse floor and finding no sign of Konohamaru so he decided to check upstairs.

'_Kakashi-sensei, you better win.'_ Naruto began to think, _'I don't want to have to jump in and save your ass.'_

Akuma surveyed there area and smirked at what he saw, nothing. No sign of Kakashi, just and endless field of sand through out almost the entire warehouse. Suddenly the back wall of the warehouse broke open and a huge dragon made of pure water came rushing in slamming into Akuma. The force of the attack made Akuma fly back and slam into the huge sliding front door of the warehouse. This was about the third time Akuma hit something hard. Kakashi wasn't an opponent that could be taking down lightly. Kakashi then walked in where the hole the Kakashi's jutsu made and then it clicked in Akuma.

'_How the hell did he get outside?'_ Akuma thought to himself. Kakashi noticed the disbelief look he was giving.

"Confused?" he asked. "It's simple, you were fighting a clone the whole time."

'_Son of a bitch, it was a clone and I couldn't beat it.'_ Akuma thought. To think the whole time, Kakashi was toying with poor Akuma. _'Alright, no more games, I didn't think I'd have to use it but I will.'_

Akuma got back to his feet after the pain in his back finally went away and stared at Kakashi with amusement.

"My, my Kakashi, you're a worthy opponent," Akuma began. "I never thought I'd have to resort to this next one."

The whole time while Akuma was talking he failed to notice another Kakashi was approaching him from the side in Akuma's blind spot. Soon it appeared in front of Akuma.

"What the…" was all he could say as Kakashi grabbed him and kneed him in the stomach before punching him out of the warehouse. The force of the punch caused Akuma to skid across the ground a few feet before he came to a complete stop. The Kakashi that was standing at the opening made by Kakashi's earlier water jutsu disappeared.

"A bushin, to distract you while I snuck up behind you, that's all it was." Kakashi said.

Akuma got up in anger, "That's, I'm done playing games with you. It ends now!"

Akuma closed his eyes and made a seal. Sand began spiraling around him and he opened his eyes, both eyes were completely tan.

"Sunaarashi Clan Secret Art: Suna Uxe-bu no Jutsu!" yelled Akuma.

The whole area was turned into a violent sandstorm that lasted for several minutes. Once it cleared the whole area was covered in sand but Kakashi wasn't no where to be found. Akuma looked around and saw nothing, did he defeat Kakashi? Was he torn into shreds by the violent sandstorm? Suddenly he felt two hands grasp his ankles.

"What the…"

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu!" yelled Kakashi from underground and pulled Akuma underground only leaving his head at the surface.

"I see you evaded another of my Jutsu yet again." Akuma said. "You truly are a hard opponent to go down."

"Of course, did you really expect the fight to be that easy?" asked Kakashi.

"Actually yes, and even with the Sharingan too," replied Akuma.

"Arrogance," was all Kakashi said and took out a Kunai to finish the final blow when Akuma began to laugh.

"Rushing to kill me already?" asked Akuma, "Well guess what, I can turn the ground to sand too."

The ground that imprisoned Akuma quickly turned to sand, Kakashi leaped back as Akuma was able to free himself. Kakashi's eyes widened in disbelief and the sand hardened up as the ground turned to normal and Akuma stood facing him.

"It seems I've underestimated the power of your Kekkei Genkai." Kakashi said.

"Looks like it." Akuma responded. Akuma held up his hand as sand began to form once more. "Suna Taijutsu!"

The sand turned into fists and began to punch at Kakashi. Kakashi used his Sharingan to slow down the moves and dodge each punch with ease.

'_What, he's dodging them!'_

Kakashi decided to let one of the sand fists to punch him and it did so right across the face causing him to fall over onto his knees. The sand fists depleted back into regular sand as Akuma looked on.

"Well you dodged them pretty nicely up until that last one." Akuma said.

"I guess I was caught off guard." Kakashi lied. Lucky for him the punch was hard enough to make him bleed.

Kakashi immediately pulled out a scroll from one of the scroll pockets in his Jounin vest. He unraveled it and wiped the blood and sand and smeared it across the length of the scroll. Kakashi began to twirl the scroll around his body before letting it ravel back up. Kakashi then flashed through some seals with the scroll in hand and slammed it to the ground.

"Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!" yelled Kakashi and the writing with in the scroll began to enter the ground.

"What the hell?" asked Akuma.

Kakashi didn't say as all of a sudden a pack of dogs came out of the ground by Akuma, two bit into his leg one on one leg and the other on the other leg. Akuma screamed in pained. Two more bit into his arms while a huge pit bull came up from behind him and bit him on the shoulder; they were holding Akuma so he could not move. The bites were painful and the dogs were not moving anytime soon. Kakashi slowly walked towards Akuma and stood.

"Well you have me right were you want me," Akuma said, "So come on, kill me."

"I know you want to know how these dogs sniffed you out." Kakashi said.

"Yeah, but if you're going to kill me, just do it already!" Akuma yelled wincing from the pain he was in.

"Sharingan not only copies jutsu, it also can slow down an opponents movements so the one being attacked can easily dodged them." Kakashi began.

"Yeah, so, what's this got to do with anything?" asked Akuma. Kakashi didn't really have to tell him, but he wanted him to feel the pain of his dogs bites a little longer before mastering the final blow.

"That's when I decided to take one hit," Kakashi began. "They left traces of sand me which have your scent. So I mixed in with my blood so they could find you and hold you down."

"Whatever, I don't care." Akuma said.

"Now it's time to end this." Kakashi said as he quickly went through seals.

His chakra began to form into his hands and turned into electricity.

"What the hell is that? You can see his chakra!" yelled Akuma.

Kakashi then charged at Akuma, "Raikiri!"

Kakashi's arm with the Raikiri was plunged to his chest, but Kakashi knew he missed the heart and cursed himself. The blade of lightning faded and left Akuma bleeding out of the gaping hole Kakashi left.

Akuma laughed, "You managed to beat me this time Kakashi, but next time you won't be so lucky."

After that said, sand swirled around Akuma and he was gone. Kakashi cursed himself for missing his heart allowing Akuma to escape and ultimately heal and survive to come for another fight later on. Kakashi didn't sweat it though, he knew he could take on Akuma again and successfully land a killing blow to him next time, if they ever met again. Now was not the time to fret on things, Kakashi did managed to defeat Akuma even though he escaped, but he needed to help Naruto to find Konohamaru, because he knew these people still had him hostage in that building. He took one look at the pool of blood left by Akuma and turned around and ran back inside the warehouse to find Naruto.

* * *

**Now the battles have begun so until next time, adios!**


	17. Don't Underestimate Me! VS Shippu!

**1). Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, never did and never will.**

**2). This is the seventh chapter in the Rescue Konohamaru arc, enjoy.**

**3). See I managed to update before Saturday...even though it's one day before, but whatever P.**

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**17. Don't Underestimate Me! Hiroshi VS Shippu!**

The large warehouse was crowded; everywhere you looked there were crates. Some were empty but most where full with whatever goods these were to be shipped to. But on one stack of them stood a man with dirty blonde hair with blue eyes wearing a blue cloak he was staring down at a brown haired, green eye boy of twelve years old. The man with the blue cloak didn't look older than maybe eighteen and thought it was a pain he got stuck fighting a kid, a kid that looked as if he could beat in a second.

"So, who are you?" the boy the man was staring down finally spoke.

"I shouldn't tell you, but I guess you should know the name of the man that kills you," said the man. "My name is Shippu, Zetsumei Shippu."

'_Judging by his headband he's from Kirigakure,'_ the boy thought.

"I told you my name, what's yours?" asked Shippu.

"Kurosaki Hiroshi."

Shippu's eyes widened, _'A Kurosaki, I thought he killed the surviving family.'_

"What's a Kiri ninja doing here?"

Shippu started laughing, "Fool, I do not associate with the likes of Kirigakure."

Hiroshi seemed confused, "What do you mean?"

'_Is this kid really a Kurosaki?'_ Shippu thought to himself, "I'm a missing-nin you baka."

"Well if you're a missing-nin, why do you still wear that?" asked Hiroshi.

"Because I feel like it, now would you kindly shut up and let's get to the fighting already."

Shippu didn't give Hiroshi anytime to answer before he began going through seals.

"Suiton: Bakusui Shoha (Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave)."

Water began gushing out of Shippu's mouth; Hiroshi gave a 'what the hell' kind of look as the area began to fill with water. Soon Hiroshi had to swim while Shippu stood on the water.

'_Damn it Naruto-sensei, you didn't teach us how to walk on water yet, just trees.'_ Hiroshi thought.

"I see you do not know how to walk on water. This shall be easier than I thought." Shippu said.

Hiroshi swam to a tower of crates and started walking climbed up them without hands and stood.

"Looks like I'll have to fight from the top of these crates." Hiroshi said.

Shippu just smirked and went through seals again.

"Suiton: Hahonryu (Water Release: Rapid Crusher)!" yelled Shippu as he held his hand up and water began spirling in his hand then suddenly the water was fired at an incredible speed and Hiroshi couldn't dodge. The blast of water broke through the tower of crates as well as hitting Hiroshi causing him to fall into the lake that was created by Shippu. Shippu didn't waste any time and started flashing through hand seals once more and placing his hand on the water.

"Suiton: Goshokuzame (Water Release: Five Eating Sharks)!" yelled Shippu, "Here's a new Jutsu I picked up."

Hiroshi looked around but didn't see anything. Five sharks made of water formed and began swam around. Hiroshi thought the Jutsu failed and smirked.

"Looks like your Jutsu didn't work."

Shippu just stood there, "Oh really? First meal!"

"What?" Hiroshi asked in confusion, suddenly Hiroshi's leg was bitten and Hiroshi screamed in pain just for a second before forced underwater.

Hiroshi saw it, five sharks were swimming around the first one dragged him under. Hiroshi managed to shake off the shark, stabbed it with a Kunai and kicked it away. The wound the Kunai gave the shark quickly healed.

"Second meal!"

A second shark began to swim at Hiroshi, but Hiroshi used his Kunai to stab it in the head and kick it another direction.

"Third meal, Fourth meal, Fifth meal!" Shippu yelled at once.

The three sharks then swam at Hiroshi. Hiroshi closed his eyes for a second. He threw his Kunai at one shark, punched the second one, but couldn't get to the fifth shark before it bit his torso, until it turned into a crate.

On the surface, Shippu could tell whatever was going on underwater was over as the water calmed. He just smirked thinking he got the boy and the fight was over.

"That ended all too quickly, but oh well at least I had a bit of fun." Shippu said lifting his hand off the water causing the sharks that were in the water to fall apart and disintegrate.

"It's not over yet," said a voice from behind Shippu. Shippu turned around with wide eyes only to get a kick to the face causing him to fall into his own lake. Shippu resurfaced.

"But how?"

"A simple Kamarimi no Jutsu," replied Hiroshi as he went through seals. "Let me introduce you to my family's only water technique that we created by accident. Suiton: Uzumaki Se no Jutsu (Water Release: Whirlpool Torrent Jutsu)!"

The water began to spin and spread. The spinning got faster and violent and it sucked Shippu right in.

"What the hell is this!" yelled Shippu as the current of the water thrashed Shippu around like a toy. Quickly as the violent whirlpool started it was over and Shippu was no where to be found.

"Did he drown?" Hiroshi asked himself.

"Unlikely." Shippu said from the second floor walking rack. Hiroshi looked up.

"What, how did you escape?"

"It was a water clone. I wanted to see what you could do before I really went into battle with you." Shippu replied.

'_Damn it, and I used a good amount of Chakra on that attack. Not to mention I'm still weakened by my fight with Sumi earlier. I don't think I'll beat him.' _Hiroshi thought.

"It seems you're a little exhausted already, but even so, I underestimated you." Shippu said.

"Well, don't ever underestimate me!" yelled Hiroshi as he took a soldier pill.

'_Shit, he took a soldier pill; his Charka will be replaced and strengthened beyond what it originally was.' _Shippu thought as he saw Hiroshi take the pill.

'_I can't use any of my earth jutsu's since everything is underwater in here.'_ Hiroshi thought as he tried to think of his next move. Hiroshi went through seals.

"Bushin no Jutsu." Hiroshi said to himself and five clones appeared.

'_Clones?'_ Shippu asked himself mentally.

The five clones and the real Hiroshi began jumping up the crates. The clones all took their turn to hit Shippu. Shippu tried to defend himself but realized the clones were just illusions, but it was too late before the real Hiroshi jumped and stabbed him in the arm with a Kunai and jumped back down to the crates. Shippu yelled in pain as he pulled out the Kunai. His arm was bleeding and it fell limp.

"What? What the hell did you do to my arm you little bastard?" asked Shippu while yelling.

"It's a secret." Hiroshi said with a smirk.

'_If this is the same technique as what the boss uses, then I can't use my jutsu now.'_ Shippu thought.

Shippu used his left arm to through Shuriken at Hiroshi who seemed to be off his guard. The Shuriken plastered Hiroshi only for it to turn into a crate.

"Behind you," Hiroshi said stabbing Shippu's left arm with a Kunai.

Shippu yelled in pain once again, this time he had to pull it out with his mouth since his right arm went numb. After Shippu did so, his right arm went numb.

'_Damn it, what am I going to do now?'_ Shippu asked himself mentally.

"My family is good with earth Jutsu, so my father created a jutsu to get rid of water." Hiroshi said, _'But it hasn't ever worked for me since my father taught me how to use it.'_

Hiroshi flashed through about thirty seals before stopping.

"Omotai Kanbatsu no Jutsu! (Severe Drought Jutsu)"

Charka began pouring out of Hiroshi. It was visible to the eye, but Hiroshi knew this is what happened before it would fizzle out. Hiroshi had practice this day in and day out after his father first taught him this jutsu just a year ago and even now to this day he hadn't been able to master it. Hiroshi just began to pray that it would work at least just once to get him out of this jam so he could at least get a hit off him before the effects of the Kunai technique to Shippu's arm wore off and gave him full use of his arms once more. To Hiroshi's surprise, the charka stayed, usually after a minute or two the Chakra that was released died out, but it kept going and getting stronger as it turned the air into a massive heat wave. The water that Shippu created began to quickly evaporate as the immense heat continued to grow. Lucky for Hiroshi, he didn't feel the heat though the Charka he was releasing was severely heating the air, it kept Hiroshi cool and protected him from the mass heat.

"What the hell is this? It's so hot in here now!" yelled Shippu as the effects of the heat were greatly felt by him. Shippu felt like his body was evaporating with his lake that he created.

Ten minutes went by and all the water was gone and the floor was perfectly dry. Hiroshi let go of the jutsu and smirked.

"See what happens when you underestimate me," Hiroshi taunted.

Shippu jumped down and charged at Hiroshi. He twirled so his arms would just twirl with him hopefully hitting Hiroshi. Hiroshi just jumped back and began to laugh and then kicked Shippu and he went across the floor.

"What rank were you before he decided to leave Kirigakure?" asked a curious Hiroshi.

"It doesn't matter, that was in the past," replied Shippu.

"Fair enough," Hiroshi said and flashed through seals.

"Doton: Tsuchi Hashira Zetsumei! (Earth Release: Earth Pillars of Death)"

Five large pillars made of solid earth broke out of the ground where Shippu stood. Four of them missed him completely, but one managed to get Shippu, though it wasn't in a vital spot as Hiroshi was hoping. It ripped through his shoulder. Shippu continuously screamed in pain.

"Damn, I missed." Hiroshi said flatly.

"What? What the hell you mean you missed?" Shippu asked between screams and coughs.

"I was hoping to kill you." Hiroshi said. "But I guess impaling you through the shoulder is good enough."

Hiroshi took out a Kunai and walked toward the pillars he created moments ago. He began to climb the one pillar of earth that impaled Shippu by his shoulder. After a minute of climbing he reached Shippu and looked at him.

"You're pathetic," Hiroshi said and was about to stab Shippu, but Shippu, though his pain, managed to gather the strength to kick Hiroshi in the gut causing him to fall of the pillar and hit the ground hard on his back.

"Sorry kid, but I'm not dying here today," Shippu began as he began to move to get the pillar out of his shoulder, "I do consider this a defeat, but we'll meet again and when we do, we'll battle to the death."

"No, you're not getting away!" yelled Hiroshi as his vision began to blur.

Shippu struggled but finally got himself off the pillar and landed on the floor near Hiroshi. He struggled to get up with all his strength and walked over to Hiroshi.

"You beat me kid, but we will fight again, someday," he said as he disappeared in a cloud of mist.

"No!" yelled Hiroshi, _'Damn it.'_

Hiroshi's vision turned black. He blacked out, the force of hitting the floor from the height of the pillar made him go unconscious.

* * *

Darkness, that's all he could see at first until he opened his eyes slowly and light began to filter through into his vision. It was bright and caused his head to flinch in pain. Soon his eyes got adjusted to the light and opened his eyes fully to see the metal ceiling of a building. He saw five pillars made of earth as he looked down a little lower from the ceiling then he looked around to see broken crates around. He suddenly remembered where he was and quickly got up.

"Shippu!" he yelled. Nothing, there was no one else there. Then he remembered he got away, but Hiroshi still defeated him, to some sense.

Hiroshi struggled to get back upon his feet and when he did the room began to spin slowly. He was dizzy and a little lightheaded, but he was okay none the less. Hiroshi then remembered he didn't get to look around the Warehouse that much because he was interrupted by Shippu so he decided to finish checking out the warehouse. After twenty minutes he had found nothing, he even looked in the managers' office and found it was empty.

"I guess I'll find Kakashi-san and Naruto-sensei." Hiroshi said to himself and exited the Warehouse.

Hiroshi stood and looked back at the warehouse he had just fought in and then remembered the words Shippu told him.

"When we do fight again Shippu, I will kill you."

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**All the Jutsu Hiroshi used I decided to make up just for the hell of it, until next time, see ya.**


	18. Shiro's Strength Revealed

**1). Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto only the characters I've created as well as the storyline.**

**2). This is the eighth chapter of the Rescue Konohamaru arc.**

**3). Sorry it took so long to update, I couldn't think of anything Shiro could do so I just made him have the ability to mold his chakra into weapons. I also made up all of the missing-nin Shiro fights Lighting jutsu's.**

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**18. Shiro's Strength Revealed**

Two figures stared at each other. One looked only to be twelve years old while the other looked to be in his twenties. The older male was wearing a blue cloak and had black hair with red on his bangs. You could tell by his eyes he was enjoying himself very much. Smirking and looking at the boy who was to be his opponent.

"It's been a while since I fought," the man began, "I need this thrill."

The boy stayed quiet, it was almost as if he ignored the comment the man before him just said. He heard it, but he was staying alert, on his guard so he could stop any move that man made.

"What's the matter?" the man asked, "Scared?"

Shiro just scoffed and then smirked, "Of course not, I actually get a chance to use my jutsu."

"Good, this should be a good, bloody fight then," the man said.

"Yes." Shiro replied.

"Allow me to introduce myself," began the man but he was interrupted.

"I don't care who you are, let's just get this over with." Shiro said.

"Well I'm going to tell you anyway, my name is Senpu."

Shiro didn't acknowledge it. He simply wanted to get to the fight so he could finish it and search upstairs. His silence was starting to irritate Senpu.

"You know, your silence is really pissing me off." Senpu finally said.

"Yeah well get used to it," replied Shiro. "I'm not very talkative."

Senpu growled and began performing seals.

"Raiton: Rai Dageki (Lighting Release: Lightning Strike)!"

A bolt of lighting came out of Senpu's body and struck Shiro, oh so he thought as Shiro turned into a log.

"What the hell?" Senpu asked in disbelief.

Senpu looked up to see Shiro coming at him with Shuriken in his hand. Shiro threw the Shuriken and Senpu merely jumped out of the way. He wasn't expecting what was about to happen next. The Shiro in the air disappeared while the real Shiro was behind him and gave him a sweep kick to Senpu's legs causing him to fall.

'_Damn it, I fell for that.'_ Senpu thought. Senpu turned over to see Shiro flashing through seals.

Chakra surrounding Shiro, it was visible to Senpu and he couldn't believe what was going on.

"What the hell? Chakra can't be visible." Senpu said.

"With my ability, I can control my chakra and attack without even moving." Shiro replied.

The charka shaped itself into a large hand and Senpu's eyes widened. Was he frozen in fear? Senpu just stood their as the giant chakra hand grabbed Senpu.

"What the hell?" yelled Senpu as the chakra hand slammed Senpu into the ground just as if he were a bug.

The hand returned to Shiro and just swirled around him. Senpu just struggled to get back onto his feet. Once the pain he received subsided, Senpu got up on his feet.

"Not bad kid, but you'll never beat without jutsu." Senpu said.

"I won't have to use it." Shiro simply replied back.

Senpu didn't reply, he just flashed through seals.

"Raiton: Tsuin Rai Dageki (Lighting Release: Twin Lighting Strikes)!"

The attack was similar to Senpu's first attack but instead two bolts of lighting emerged from Senpu's body and struck Shiro. Senpu smirked and saw Shiro lying on the ground.

'_He didn't have time to react, that attack finished him off already.'_ Senpu thought.

Then Senpu noticed, the chakra that was surrounding Shiro earlier was still surrounding.

"What, the chakra is still around that boy, this can't be!"

Shiro got up as if he didn't get hurt at all and turned his attention to Senpu and raised his hand to form a seal.

"Secret Jutsu: Chakra Shuriken!"

The chakra turned into Shuriken. Shiro did another seal and the shuriken of pure charka started flying around. Senpu jumped around dodging the shuriken, but unlike real shuriken, they didn't stop.

'_The brat is controlling their direction.'_ Senpu thought and decided to throw a kunai at the boy.

Senpu threw a Kunai at Shiro. Shiro made a hand seal with one hand and the Chakra that was still around Shiro formed a hand and knocked the kunai out of the way.

'_Damn it.'_ Senpu thought. While he was paying more attention to Shiro, he completely forgot about the Chakra Shuriken and was hit. Senpu lost his focus and fell to the ground hard. Senpu had scratches, cuts and deep wounds from the attack and was bleeding a lot from the deeper ones.

"You fucking brat, you made me bleed." Senpu said, "For that, I'll make you pay."

Senpu started going through seals as Shiro just stood and waited.

'_The fool doesn't realize lighting attacks won't work against me. My family may have the ability to control our chakra to use it as a weapon, but our chakra is of the earth element.'_ Shiro thought and just waited for the attack.

Senpu finally finished performing hand seals and yelled, "Raiton: Rai Kadou (Lighting Release: Lighting Vortex)!"

Senpu held out his two hands with his palms in Shiro's view. Lightning began forming in the middle of both of Senpu's palms and began spiraling around Senpu's hands. Then the rotating vortex of lightning began to escape from Senpu's hands and went straight at Shiro. Shiro just stood and waited for the right moment because while Senpu was focused on his palms, Shiro went through seals and waited for the right moment for the last one to complete the jutsu he was going to use to slow down the attack. Shiro could no longer see Senpu's eyes so the moment was perfect and finished off the seal. The floor underneath cracked and allowed earth to spill out and form a protective wall and the lighting vortex of Senpu's jutsu crashed into the wall. Senpu felt the jutsu hit an obstacle, but with lighting vortex blocking his sight, he could not see so he pumped more chakra into the jutsu to break whatever obstacle was blocking his attack. Shiro did not keep the strength of the wall, his plan was to weaken the jutsu so when it hit him, Shiro wouldn't be effected at all also Shiro wanted to make Senpu use more chakra so he would be tired and want to flee the battle. Senpu was still pumping chakra to break whatever was in the way. He felt he was pushing through and left it at that. The earth wall Shiro created began to crack and soon it broke apart and the attack headed for Shiro. The attack hit and in a few short seconds it was over and the lighting was gone. Senpu saw what was blocking his attack.

"So the brat does know jutsu." Senpu said to himself.

Senpu looked around to see if he could see Shiro. Then he noticed a body lying on the floor still surrounded by his chakra and got up.

"What the hell? How could you still move! That was a powerful jutsu of mine!" Senpu yelled.

"There's something you should know. I created that wall made of earth to null your attack so when it hit me, my chakra would protect me, and it did just that," replied Shiro.

"Damn it!" yelled Senpu.

"Also, my element chakra type nulls lighting. You cannot win this battle with such pathetic attacks." Shiro added.

"Damn it all to hell!" yelled Senpu, "When I'm done with you, you'll regret every being born you bastard!"

Shiro ignored Senpu's outburst and took it to his advantage and performed a seal.

"Secret Jutsu: Charka Binding!" Shiro's chakra began to span out across the floor and under Senpu's feet, Senpu tried to move but couldn't.

"What the hell did you do to me?" asked an angry Senpu.

"My charka has got your feet locked, you cannot move." Shiro said peforming another seal.

"Secret Justu: Chakra Spears!" Shiro said and chakra began to form into spears.

Senpu smirked, _'He's getting tired. If I can survive this, that should be it.'_

Shiro did another seal and the spears moved really fast. All six spears stabbed Senpu and Senpu yelled out in pain. Blood began oozing out of all twelve holes made by the spears. The spears disappeared leaving the wounds. Shiro of course didn't aim at any vital spots because he didn't think much of killing people. The charka that was binding Senpu on the spot disappeared too allowing Senpu to fall to his knees. Senpu began to cough up blood.

"You little bastard," Senpu began between coughs, "I'm going to kill you and after you're dead I'm going to rip your body apart. Look what you've done to me!"

Shiro did not answer, he stayed silent.

"And besides, you're getting tired. You can't keep up these Chakra techniques much longer." Senpu said with a smirk.

"Oh yeah, let me just do something real quick." Shiro said taking out a pill and took it. The Chakra began to ooze out more. "My family takes soldier pills so we can keep this going for a long time."

'_Son of a bitch, this kid might actually beat me!'_ Senpu yelled in his brain.

Senpu struggled to get up. All the injuries that Shiro implied on him with his Chakra attacks were taking their toll on him. He was losing blood, not rapidly, but enough to make Senpu start feeling dizzy.

'_Shit, I'm feeling dizzy, I cannot continue this much longer. I have to finish it off with my final jutsu.'_ Senpu thought.

Senpu finally stood up straight and took a deep breath. Shiro just stared him down, awaiting any attack. Senpu began flashing through hand seals.

"This is it you little brat, this will end you right here and right now, Raiton: Rai Bakuha (Lighting Release: Lightning Blast)!"

Balls of electricity formed around Senpu. About ten was all he created.

'_Crap, only ten. Am I really that low on Chakra?'_ Senpu asked himself mentally, _'This will have to do.'_

Senpu then charged at Shiro with all his energy. Shiro just stood their and looked.

"Didn't I just tell your dumbass your lighting attacks won't work?" he asked.

Senpu did not listen to anything Shiro just said, he was determined to kill this kid that has stomped all over his pride as a Shinobi who's lighting jutsu was superior to any. Wait, Shinobi? This guy could no longer be considered a Shinobi since he was apparent he was a missing-nin.

Senpu reached Shiro at close range, he took out a sword that was hidden under his cloak and charged his Chakra into it and began cutting the balls of lighting in half which caused massive explosions. Senpu's speed with this jutsu was just enough to get himself out of the way of the blast. After Senpu's sword cut through the last ball of electricity, Senpu awaited as the smoke from the blasts cleared. As soon as it did Shiro was no where to be found which really pissed off Senpu.

"Don't fucking tell me he got away!" Senpu yelled and stepped near the floor where the earth had risen earlier in the fight. Charka spilled out of the ground around Senpu's foot locking him in place.

"Son of a bitch!" yelled Senpu again.

Shiro rose out of the ground in front of Senpu.

"I think it's time I finish this little game." Shiro said, "I had fun though, thank you."

"Why you little bastard, even if you do beat me now, I will come back for you and kill you next time." Senpu replied.

"Bring it, each time I'll defeat you worse and worse." Shiro said as he made a hand seal. "Secret Jutsu: Chakra Shuriken and Kunai."

The Chakra that surrounded Shiro formed into Shuriken and kunai. With another hand seal all of them charged at Senpu.

"Damn it!" Senpu yelled as he embraced himself for the attack. All the Shuriken and kunai just ripped and tore at him. Senpu yelled in pain. For Senpu, it felt like hours until it was over which in reality it only lasted about a minute.

Shiro released the Chakra Binding. Senpu just collapsed to the floor. His body was full of cuts and wounds. Most of the minor cuts and scraps already stopped bleeding, but as for the deeper wounds were still bleeding slightly. As for the more serious ones, the wounds made by Shiro's Chakra Spears were bleeding the most, still not enough to kill him right off the bat but enough to of made Senpu weak. Shiro approached Senpu and stared at the pathetic excuse for a Shinobi who was lying on the ground as if he were literally bleeding to death.

"You should have quit after you got hit with my Chakra Spears." Shiro spoke. There was no reply for a bit until Senpu finally raised his head off the ground.

"I'd rather die than admit defeat to a fucking kid." Senpu finally said.

"I could arrange that." Shiro replied.

Senpu just smirked and tried his hardest to get back up. About five minutes of struggling he finally stood up and stared at the boy that defeated him even though Senpu wouldn't admit it.

"I'll be back to kill you off someday you brat, mark my words." Senpu said and took all his strength to disappear in a puff of smoke.

Shiro just stood where he was for a while and just shook his head, _'Whatever, if I do meet up with that weirdo again, I'll make sure not to hesitate to kill him.'_

Shiro finally let go of his Chakra Weapon Molding Jutsu and fell to his knees in sure exhaustion. The battle was too long for him and it took a lot out of him.

'_Shit, I'm tired.'_ He thought and sat down. He was going to rest for a bit before leaving.

About ten minutes Shiro returned to his feet. He was still tired but he had a job to do and that was to search this warehouse for any signs of Konohamaru. The search was quick since the place was empty but he had to check upstairs. Nothing, Konohamaru was not being held in this warehouse. Soon after finishing his search, Shiro decided to take another rest, but not inside this place so he left the warehouse and sat down at the edge of the dock looking out at the peaceful ocean. Quiet, that's how Shiro liked it. He wasn't much of a talker or a fighter either, but wouldn't hesitate to fight if he had to just like tonight and even talking more than usual but he was a ninja so he'd have to do this once in a while.

"I just want this mission to end so I can go back home." Shiro said to himself with a sigh.

* * *

**I know, I know, lame but whatever I couldn't think of anything better but until next time, see ya.**


	19. Kunoichi VS Kunoichi: Himawari Battles!

**1). Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, never have nor ever will.**

**2). This is the ninth chapter of the Rescue Konohamaru arc.**

**3). This chapter was rushed for reasons I do not know.**

* * *

**19. Kunoichi VS Kunoichi: Himawari Battles!**

"Are you scared?" a woman with long black hair and wearing a blue cloak asked looking up at the rack where a girl was trying to hide.

The girl just stood stayed there and not moving hoping she would think the woman looking right at her would just think she's seeing things and go away. The woman below just smirked and the girl knew it was no use. The woman disappeared in bubbles of water and reappeared behind the girl trying to hide.

"You are scared," the woman behind the girl said.

The girl slowly turned around to see the woman she was trying to hide from was now behind here with an evil smirk on her face. The woman kicked the girl in the stomach causing to roll over.

"Are you going to fight back or are you just going to let me kick you around?" asked the woman.

The girl she just kicked didn't say anything.

The woman sighed, "Do you know who I am? I am Tsunami Risaimin, and you're wasting my time."

The girl didn't say anything. She just lied there frozen in fear.

'_I-I can't believe I'm freezing up like this. Come on Himawari, do something!'_ Himawari screamed in her mind.

She couldn't move her body, she was so scared. This was the first time she was going to have a real fight and she had completely froze.

"I guess I shall put you out of your misery." Tsunami said and began going through seals.

"Suiton: Mizuame Nabara (Water Release: Syrup Capture Field)!"

Tsunami began spitting out sticky syrup at Himawari. When she tried to move, she could not as she was stuck.

"You cannot move now. It will be easy for me to end you right here and now." Tsunami said, "Shippu-san was the one to teach me this next jutsu."

"Like I know who that is." Himawari finally blurted out.

"Oh, she can talk." Tsunami said as she began to flash through hand seals.

"Suiton: Suriyudan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Blast Technique)!"

Water in the form of a dragon crashed through the big windows lining just below the roof and was aimed right for Himawari. Himawari struggled but she couldn't move, all she could do was to take the attack and hopefully survive it. The water dragon was closing in on her. Himawari closed her eyes but what Tsunami didn't see was Himawari was performing hand seals. The water dragon crashed into the spot where Himawari was and broke apart and water went everywhere. Tsunami looked to see Himawari was no longer there.

"How could this be? She shouldn't be able to move!"

"I think I finally gotten over my fear." Himawari said from behind her. Tsumani quickly turned around to see Himawari standing, unharmed and smiling.

"But how?" Tsunami barely got out.

"I used a water clone." Himawari replied, "I acted all scared and got trapped on purpose. As soon as I heard your name and saw your Kirigakure forehead protector, I knew you specialized in water, like my family."

Himawari flashed through seals, "Suiro no Jutsu (Water Prison Jutsu)!"

"Shit!" yelled Tsunami as the water from Tsunami's attack formed a hard as steel prison around Tsunami. Tsunami noticed that Himawari's hand was holding onto the prison.

"You baka, now how are you going to attack me? You can't take your hand off or the water prison falls apart." Tsunami said and Himawari smirked and pointed.

"Huh?" Tsunami said and looked, a figure was approaching, "What the…"

The figured finally stopped and Tsunami recognized who it was.

"You used a clone." Tsunami said right off the bat.

Himawari dispersed the clone and the water prison fell apart. Himawari charged at Tsunami. Tsunami got up only to get a kick in the stomach and a punch to the face. The force knocked her back but Tsunami did a black flip and landed on her hands, but before she could push herself back on her feet, Himawari quickly did a sweep kick to her hands causing her to fall face first onto the metal floor. Tsunami got up to see Himawari wasn't near in front of her. Suddenly Tsunami felt a kick in the back and stumbled forward only to be greated by three Himawari's, the all kicked in the stomach causing Tsunami to slide across the metal floor into the puddle of water left by Tsunami's attack and Himawari's water prison.

Tsunami coughed a bit, "Why you little brat, you actually managed to hurt me."

Himawari did not respond to the comment and went through seals.

"Suiton: Mizubashira Shuriken (Water Release: Waterspout Shuriken)!"

Tsunami only managed to get on her knees when the water underneath her began to circle around her. Tsunami was struggling against the pain to get up so she did not see or hear Himawari's attack.

"What the hell is this?" Tsunami wondered as the spiraling water shot up to the ceiling. "What the hell?"

Inside the vortex of the waterspout, waves of water began to flow up the spout, but the waves were in shapes of Shuriken, and they were sharp and the slashed and cut at Tsunami. In about a few minutes it was all over and Tsunami was on her knees with cuts and scratches all over her face and arms. Some of her clothes were torn up too and you could see the small amounts of blood that leaked out of the small cuts. The attack wasn't serious, but it was enough to cause enough pain.

"Nice attack, where'd you learn this one from?" asked Tsunami.

"I don't have to tell you." Himawari replied.

"You're mean." Tsunami said with a fake kid voice.

Himawari just scoffed.

"You think you have me beat, but you do not." Tsunami said.

Tsunami pulled out a scroll and unrolled it across the floor and did a hand seal and pressed her hand on the seal on the scroll. The scroll created a cloud of smoke, when it disappeared, a gourd was visible.

"I wasn't going to go this far, but you proved you're a worthy opponent, even if you're just a worthless Genin." Tsunami said.

"Me and my team were the best in the class." Himawari began, "Plus our sensei's is the strongest Shinobi of all the Konoha Eleven."

"Like I care, now that I have this, you have no chance in hell of winning this fight." Tsunami said.

Tsunami placed her hands inside the gourd and pumped her chakra into it.

'_What the hell is she doing?'_ Himawari wondered.

"Suiton no Jutsu! (Water Release)!"

"What?" Himawari asked in confusion.

"Now that I pumped my Chakra into this gourd filled with water, I can control water." Tsunami replied, "Now I'm going to finish you off by drowning you."

Himawari's eyes widened as Tsunami moved her hand to coordinate the Water. It was now heading for Himawari. Himawari jumped backwards until she found herself against the wall. She thought about jumping down to the floor below but it was too high and she'd break her legs. The water caught up to Himawari and began wrapping around Himawari.

"No!" yelled Himawari.

"Mizu Sanketsu (Water Suffocation)!" yelled Tsunami who began laughing in victory.

The water completely enclosed Himawari.

'_I guess this is it. Sorry Hiroshi-kun, Shiro-kun and Naruto-sensei, I failed.'_ Himawari thought as she started to suffocate, then it hit her. _'Wait, this water isn't hard as steel as my water prison. If I can break the gourd, maybe it will break Tsunami's hold on the water.'_

Himawari grabbed a few kunai from her kunai pouch and just threw them all. The four kunai came out of the water. Tsunami saw this but didn't think what she was aiming for.

"Kunai? That won't help her escape." Tsunami said to herself.

The two of the kunai managed to hit the gourd, luckily for Himawari. The gourd began to crack around the two kunai. Out of the corner of Tsunami's eyes she saw the kunai.

"Oh shit! That little brat was aiming for the gourd!" Tsunami yelled in anger.

The gourd continued to crack and soon the fragile pot broke spilling out the water.

"No!" yelled Tsunami.

The water that was surrounding Himawari fell and splashed across the floor. Himawari smirked. Tsunami turned to Himawari and smirked back.

"No worries, I always carry two." Tsunami said as she pulled out another scroll and unrolled it across the floor.

Himawari wasn't taking any chances, she pulled out a kunai and wrapped and exploding tag around the handle. Tsunami was paying too much attention to her scroll to notice and Himawari ran a bit, pumping a little Chakra into the exploding tag and threw the kunai. The kunai landed right in the middle of the scroll and Tsunami looked up at Himawari.

"That's not going to work." Tsunami said before she noticed the exploding tag.

When Tsunami did noticed she jumped out of the way just before it exploded. The explosion echoed throughout the building. The force of the explosion broke apart the metal flooring causing Tsunami to fall to the floor below. Himawari, however, grabbed the end of the rack and put her feet against the wall and let go so she could walk down the wall and onto the floor below. Himawari looked at Tsunami who wasn't moving. Himawari approached her and kicked her a bit. No movement, Himawari thought maybe falling to the floor must have knocked her out cold. Himawari decided to turn her over, when she did her eyes widened in fear. Tsunami had been laying a pool of blood while she bled from the chest. Himawari swallowed her fear and took a closer look, disgusting as the sight might have been, but it was clear to Himawari that a piece of the kunai that exploded with the exploding tag pierced her heart and killed her.

"I- I only meant to stop her from unsealing another gourd." Himawari said to herself.

Sure, Tsunami was an enemy, but Himawari didn't want to kill her. Himawari just sighed and walked out of the warehouse to find Hiroshi running.

"Hiroshi-kun, where are you going?" Himawari asked calling out. Hiroshi stopped and approached her.

"Well I just beat another one of these blue cloaked people and I was heading off to help Naruto-sensei." Hiroshi replied.

Himawari smiled but it quickly faded, "I just finished fighting too."

"What?" Hiroshi said and began to worry, "Are you okay Himawari-chan?"

"I'm not injured, but I killed her. I didn't mean to."

Hiroshi placed his hands on Himawari's shoulders, "It's okay Himawari-chan, sometimes it happens. I mean, we are Shinobi after all, that's just part of the job."

Himawari smiled a bit, "Thanks Hiroshi-kun."

Hiroshi noticed Shiro sitting at the dock, "You should go rest up with Shiro over there, and I'm going to find Naruto-sensei."

"Alright," Himawari replied.

Hiroshi waved and ran off once again and Himawari headed over to where Shiro was sitting and sat down. Shiro looked over to see her.

"Hello, Himawari-chan." Shiro said.

"Hello Shiro-kun, did you have a fight too?" she asked.

"Yep, the baka managed to get away, how about you?"

"Yeah I fought, and I killed my opponent." Himawari said.

"Well at least yours might not have the potential to come back for revenge." Shiro said.

Himawari giggled a little bit before looking out a the peaceful ocean, "You know, this the most you spoken the whole team we've been a team."

Shiro laughed a bit, "Don't get used to it."

* * *

A blond-haired man broke down a door to an office and looked around in a frantic. Nothing, there was nobody here. 

"Son of a bitch, he's not here!" Naruto yelled, than noticed the bookcase, the was an opening.

Naruto approached the bookshelf and moved it to reveal stairs that went down into darkness.

"They're down here." Naruto said to himself and began to run down the stairs.

* * *

"What is it Sumi?" asked an older male voice. 

"Akuma, Shippu, and Senpu have been defeated. They fled back to the hideout." Sumi spoke up.

"Useless bastards," was all the voice said.

"As for Tsunami, she was killed." Sumi said.

The man did not say anything and heard footsteps coming from the stairs ahead of them, and then he finally spoke up.

"Sumi, go to the hideout and asses their injuries, I'm about to have company and I do not need you in the way."

"Yes Totosai-sama."

* * *

**Oh yes, finally all the minor battles over and the final one of this arc will begin and I even managed to kill one of these blue cloaked beings off, even if it was a lame death but whatever.Until next time, see ya.**


	20. Naruto: FaceToFace With Totosai!

**1). Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Just my characters**

**2). This is the tenth chapter in the Rescue Konohamaru arc.**

**3). Enjoy.**

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* * *

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**20. Naruto: Face-To-Face With Totosai!**

Dawn had approached as sunlight started pouring over the ocean and the dock. The whole night had passed and with the light, you could see the damage to the warehouses, they were merely scars of battles that took place over the night.

Staring out the window of his home was Inari, looking out at the direction of the west dock. Deep in thought, wondering what was becoming of his dock. Inari knew that battles might take place and he wouldn't blame the Konoha ninjas because none of this was their fault. Inari blamed himself for letting these thugs roam around his country, and just the day before he found these same people were the ones that killed two Konoha ninjas a month ago. Inari sighed and walked away from the window and laid back down in his bed.

Konohamaru, who was still tied down to a chair in woke up in unknown and dark room. It was damp and slightly chilly. All he could remember was something about moving him so Konoha couldn't find him. His attention was caught when heard a familiar voice.

"Sumi, return to the hideout and asses their injuries. I do not need you in the way," said the muffled voice.

'_Is someone coming?'_ Konohamaru mentally said.

* * *

The man wearing the blue cloak waited, he heard fast footsteps coming from the stairs and they got louder, signaling the approaching person was getting closer and closer. Soon enough, a man wearing a black and orange jumpsuit with blonde hair, blue eyes and a forehead protector with the Konoha Leaf symbol came into view, Naruto had finally made it to the large underground room and standing before him was a man with brown hair with some gray in areas, green eyes and wearing a blue cloak. The same cloak Naruto saw on the guy he quickly knocked out no later than thirty minutes ago.

"You," Naruto said.

"I see you bastard Konoha ninja managed to find me after all," said the man.

"You think we would be defeated?" asked Naruto in a cold tone.

"I was hoping," replied the man.

"You honestly don't know our will of fire then," Naruto retorted.

The man scoffed, "Oh I know all about the will of fire, the willingness to rescue and protect comrades and all that bullshit. It's a waste of time and effort and it costed the lives of their greatest Hokages."

"How would you know about all that?" asked Naruto who was surprised at his knowledge.

"Because I'm from Konohagakure," the man answered.

Naruto just looked at him. At first Naruto didn't believe him, thinking this guy was just trying to play with his head.

"You're not from Konoha," Naruto said.

The man placed his hand inside his cloak and pulled out something and tossed it to the ground. It slide into Naruto's eye sight and Naruto looked down to see what it was. His eyes widened, before him lied an old forehead protector with the Konoha leaf on it.

"I used to be proud from being from Konohagakure. Then I grew sour and grew to hate it with a passion so I left and traveled until I met _him_ and joined this organization," the man said.

"What made you hate Konoha so much?" asked a semi-curious Naruto.

"My brother," the man began, "Everything went right for my brother and I fell behind, when I asked him to help me out he just tossed me aside so I left."

Naruto didn't say anything but he understood, the feeling of being unacknowledged it was overwhelming.

The man began laughing cutting Naruto out of his thoughts, "Then a month ago I met up with him once again and this time I overpowered him and killed his worthless being and his slut for a wife."

Naruto then turned angry, "If you killed him, then you're no better than your brother and his arrogance!"

The man scoffed, "I don't care what you say, but it felt great to rid the world of his presence."

Naruto just stared the man down. Then a revelation hit Naruto like a ton of bricks, he killed his brother and the brothers wife, which someone made Naruto begin to think about Hiroshi's parents that were killed a month ago which was around the same time this man said he killed his brother and wife.

"Just what is your name anyway?" asked Naruto.

"And why do you want to know?" asked the man.

"I want to know the name of the bastard I'm going to kill," Naruto replied.

"You can call me Totosai."

Naruto's eyes widened, he then looked at the ground and made fists with both hands. The very man Tsunade told him about. The very man who killed his students parents. Naruto was going to make sure he killed this man for all the pain he had caused the boy. Naruto looked back up at Totosai with pure rage in his blue eyes. Totosai looked and was slightly scared of the coldness the blonde's eyes produced.

"You…" began Naruto.

"Hmm?"

"You're the bastard that killed my student's parents,"

"What are you going on about?" asked Totosai who was obviously not following.

"You're the bastard that killed Hiroshi's parents!" yelled Naruto.

Totosai just looked at him with funny eyes as if Naruto had gone crazy or something.

"I know who you are; your real name is Kurosaki Kami."

"Oh how nice, you know my real name," Kami said. "Yes, my name is Kurosaki Kami and I go by Totosai to avoid the Hunter-nins of Konoha."

Naruto just stared at Totosai. So much anger was going through Naruto. The anger was so intense and Naruto was trying his hardest to keep the Kyuubi's power from leaking out because, he alone wanted to take out Totosai. Naruto didn't want to rely on that power, he wanted to kill Totosai on his own, without help. It was working but it was hard work at that. Usually any kind of dose of emotions like anger and being impatient would allow the Kyuubi to take over somewhat.

"Kurosaki Hiroshi is your nephew, how did you not know who he was?" yelled Naruto.

Kami stood there with no emotion and spoke, "So my brother had a kid, big deal."

"What the hell do you mean big deal? You killed his parents and left him alone in the world!" Naruto continued to yell.

"As if I care about anyone that has anything to do with my brother," Kami said.

"You're just a cold, heartless monster," Naruto began, "And I will make sure I'll kill you."

"I finally know who figured out who you are," Kami cut in, "You're that brat that Minato sealed the Kyuubi in. Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto looked at him with mixed feelings, mainly about the Kyuubi, "Minato?"

"Yes, Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage. You resemble him."

Naruto just looked at him. He did not know what to say. Sure, all the older adults knew about Naruto's secret but finding out who sealed the Kyuubi inside him just threw him into mixed emotions.

"Judging by the look on your face, you didn't know," Kami said.

"I know about the Kyuubi being sealed inside me, what I didn't know was who did it," Naruto said, "But this isn't about me."

Kami looked at him and quickly saw how Naruto's expression changed from the mixture of hate, anger and sadness back to rage that was pouring at Kami. _'This bastard quickly dropped the subject and focused back on me.'_

"But I just can't believe how you don't care you orphaned a child," Naruto spat.

Kami looked at Naruto once more and spoke, "I guess I'll tell you the story."

**Flashback:**

_Sun was shining high over the Wave Country. Two ninjas walked the Great Naruto Bridge. One male and one female, the male had medium length brown hair and green eye and wore the standard Jounin uniform, the dark blue shirt with the Jounin vest and black pants and blue shoes with an opening over the toes. The female had long auburn hair that reached the middle of her back, her crystal blue eyes shined brightly in the daytime sun. She too wore the standard Jounin uniform with a black shirt and Jounin vest._

"_We've finally arrived Rin," the man said._

"_I can see that Kenji, I'm not blind," Rin said with laughter._

"_Alright, we can joke later. We've got to find Tazuna-sama so we can make this trading deal."_

_The two ninjas began to head for the Tazuna residence when a man in his early twenties approached them._

"_You must be the diplomats from Konohagakure to negotiate a trading deal."_

"_Uh, yeah," said Kenji. "I'm looking for a Tazuna."_

"_Well, Tazuna-ojiisan died, I'm the countries leader now. My name is Inari."_

"_Our apologies, Inari-sama," said Rin._

"_Don't worry about, and no need for formalities," Inari said with a smile. "How about I let you get lunch and we can negotiate a deal at three p.m., sound good?"_

"_Uh sure," Kenji replied._

"_Very well then," Inari said, "See you at three."_

"_What a nice kid," Rin said._

"_Let's go see what they've got to offer food wise," Kenji said with a big smile on his face._

_Rin sighed, "You and your love for food, dear."_

_Kenji just laughed and the two of them began to walk down the street looking for a good place to eat. Unbeknownst to them, the whole time they were being watched nearby by a man in a blue cloak._

"_Foolish brother, how nice it is to see you again, I think it's time I killed you for all the times you made me suffer."_

_Kenji and Rin were walking down the street when a man in a blue cloak appeared in front of them._

"_What the hell?" asked Kenji in confusion._

_The man with brown hair lifted up his head once the light hit his face and Kenji got a good looked and gasped._

"_Kami, what are you doing here?" asked Kenji._

"_To kill you," Kami replied._

"_Kill me?" asked Kenji in confusion._

_Rin began to worry and started to pull on Kenji's arm and finally spoke, "Honey, who is this? Why does he want to kill you?"_

"_He's my brother," Kenji replied, "As for him wanting to kill me, I don't know."_

"_Of course you don't know, you were to busy gloating in all the attention from Okaasan and Otosan, and when we became ninjas, you were the popular one and I was just ignored. The last straw was when you became a Jounin, you completely forgot I existed."_

"_Are you crazy Kami?" Kenji began, "If anything I was more jealous of you because you learned all our families attacks quicker than I ever did. I admired you."_

"_Bullshit, it's all bullshit," Kami said and pulled out a katana, "We will fight to the death."_

"_Kami, you're my brother, I love you, can't we just put this all behind us. This was in the…"_

"_No!" Kami interrupted, "It's because of you I ended up in this forsaken organization."_

_Kami pointed at the cloak and Kenji just looked._

"_So that's what happened to you, you became a member of Tatsumaki."_

"_All because of my hatred of you, I met _him_ and was forced to join," Kami replied, "And what's worse, you didn't even come looking for me when I left."_

"_That's a lie!" Kenji yelled, "I did go looking for you. I searched for three fucking months!"_

"_Lies, all lies!" yelled Kami._

"_And I would of continued on hadn't the Godaime Hokage stopped me and placed you as a missing-nin," Kenji continued._

_Kami wasn't hearing any of this and began to walk toward Kenji. Kenji then signaled Rin to run but she didn't want to leave Kenji alone. Kenji then gave Rin a little push to get her away from here she began to run only to stop and turn around._

"_I'm not going to fight you brother." Kenji said with tears forming in his eyes._

"_Goodbye you bastard!" yelled Kami and slashed Kenji with his sword._

_Rin's eyes widened as she saw Kami's sword slice through Kenji. She could see the blood splatter everywhere around the two brothers. Kenji's body just fell to the ground like a tossed children's toy. Kami just stood over the body as Rin rushed over to Kenji._

"_Kenji!" Rin yelled as she began to cry harder and harder. She cried for ten minutes all the while Kami was still there, he contemplated on killing the woman too, but decided against it, all he came here for was to kill his brother so he turned around and began to walk away._

"_Where the hell do you think your going!" yelled Rin as she stood up and took out a Kunai._

"_I'm going back on my primary mission," Kami said without turning around._

_Rin wasn't thinking rationally and just charged at Kami with her kunai. Kami sensed her coming and sighed. Kami waited for the right moment. When that moment came, Kami quickly turned around and slashed Rin across her abdomen. Rin clinched her wound and fell to her knees. She looked to see she was bleeding massively._

"_You know," Kami began, "If you didn't come after me, you would have lived. I only intended killing my brother."_

_Rin just looked while heavily bleeding from her stomach. Kami took his sword and slashed at Rin's throat. Rin's body fell to the ground and bled out from the throat and the abdomen. Kami just looked at his two victims with no regret. Kami turned around and walked away._

**End of Flashback**

Naruto just stared at Kami. He didn't know what to say. All he knew was Kami was a cold and would never listen to reason. Finally after a few minutes of silence, Naruto finally spoke up.

"You're just a cold bastard who was bent on revenge. You remind me of one of my friends."

"I did not wish to kill the woman, she asked for it when she came after me," Kami said in defense.

"You could have just knocked her unconscious, if you didn't want to kill her!" yelled Naruto.

"The thought never crossed my mind," Kami said bluntly.

"Why you bastard!" yelled Naruto and ran at Kami.

When Naruto got close enough, Kami just pushed Naruto's arm down and grabbed the collar of his jacket and flipped Naruto over who, in turn, landed on his back.

"Look, I don't wish to fight," Kami began, "I know you are here to rescue that brat we're holding hostage. Can't we just settle this with a negotiation instead of a fight?"

Naruto got up not facing Kami.

"If you weren't the bastard that killed Hiroshi's parents, then maybe I would of considered it, but since you are, I'm going to kill you, right here and right now," Naruto answered.

Kami sighed, "A pity really, you want to fight, so be it, let's fight."

Kami began to walk up the stairs and Naruto turned around.

"Where the hell are you going? We fight here and now."

Kami turned around, "We're going to fight outside."

When Kami turned back around to walk up stairs a man with snow white hair entered the room.

"Get our hostage out of that dark room and bring him outside."

"Hai, Totosai-sama."

Naruto began to follow Kami as he climbed up the stairs. The man with the snow white hair looked familiar but pushed the concern aside and put his focus on the fight he was about to have.

* * *

**With this chapter I am going to list the characters I've created for this story. Just simple information like age, ninja rank, village, etc.**

**Name: Kurosaki Hiroshi  
Age: 12  
Rank: Genin  
Team: Team Eleven  
Relatives: Kurosaki Kenji (Father, Deceased), Kurosaki Rin (Mother, Deceased) Kurosaki Kami (Uncle), Brother (name unknown)  
Village: Konohagakure**


	21. Naruto VS Totosai! Hiroshi's Decision!

**1). Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**2). This is the eleventh chapter in the Rescue Konohamaru arc.**

**3). Sorry this chapter took a few days, I kind of plan pieces of each chapter in my head and then write around it later, but things just weren't coming to my head for a bit until now.**

* * *

**21. Naruto VS Totosai! Hiroshi's Rash Decision!**

The blonde haired ninja followed Totosai up the stairs so they could have their battle outside. Naruto was steaming with anger and he felt like his blood was boiling. Naruto was also fighting off Kyuubi, he didn't want the 'bastard fox' to get control for he wanted to finish off Totosai with his own strength. Suddenly Naruto thought of something, Konohamaru was going to be brought outside too. Naruto quickly did a Kage Bushin and stopped while Naruto's clone followed Totosai. As soon as the two were out of sight, Naruto instantly ran back down the stairs to find the snow white haired man handling Konohamaru.

"Hey, let go!" yelled Konohamaru.

"Shut up and let's go," the man replied.

"Alright you bastard, let him go," Naruto finally spoke.

Konohamaru saw Naruto and smiled, "Naruto-niisan!"

"Wait a minute," began the man pointing at Naruto, "You're that punk that knocked me out earlier!"

"Oh, then you won't be that diffcult to beat down." Naruto shot back and did his cross seal.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as five clones appeared.

"What the hell?" the man asked in shock.

Three of the clones ran behind the white haired man. One of the two in the front kneeled on all fours while the real Naruto somersaulted into the air by the clone on all fours. The clone standing punched the man in the face causing him to fly a bit while the three clones behind him kicked him in the air all while chanting.

"U"

"Zu"

"Maki"

"Naruto Rendan!" yelled the real Naruto who was in the air and slammed his foot into the man's face.

The force of the foot caused the man to fall straight to the floor face first as a little blood splattered out. The hit was hard and it knocked the man unconscious for the second time. Naruto then kneeled down to the unconscious man.

"Thank you for the fight, I haven't used that attack in a couple of years," Naruto whispered and then looked back up at Konohamaru, "You alright, Konohamaru?"

"Never been better, Chief!" Konohamaru replied with a smile, "Though my head kind of hurts still when one of these bastards hit me over the head with something yesterday."

Naruto chuckled and took out a kunai and used it to cut the ropes that tied up Konohamaru, afterwards Naruto spoke.

"Why didn't you just use the Nawanuke no Jutsu (Rope Escape Jutsu)?" asked Naruto

"Well that Totosai guy told me if I tried that, my chakra would make the ropes respond and cut my hands off," Konohamaru explained.

"Well whatever, let's get out of here and stay with Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said with authority.

Konohamaru nodded but then spoke, "Are you still going to fight Totosai? I don't see why you should since you save…"

Naruto interrupted, "Yes, it's a fight on a personal level."

"A personal level? What do you mean chief?" asked Konohamaru.

Naruto sighed, "Because he's the killer of one of my students parents."

Konohamaru's eyes widened but soon spoke again, "Well I know you'll kick his ass Chief!"

Naruto nodded and spoke, "Alright, Kakashi's still on the main level of this warehouse, go to him while I take care of Totosai."

Konohamaru nodded and headed up the stairs with Naruto following.

* * *

'Naruto' and Totosai walked outside, out in the open where they would have their grand battle. 'Naruto' stopped while Totosai continued to walk a bit further away and then stopped and turned around. 

"This should be interesting, two Jounin's fighting."

'Naruto' scoffed, "You're a missing-nin, so you don't have a rank anymore."

"As true as that statement is, I'm still at Jounin level, but I won't underestimate your abilities since you are the Kyuubi container after all."

'Naruto's' fists tightened, "So that's how it is then, you're like all the rest, just see me as some container for some stupid fox."

"Actually, I see you as an enemy who is in my way of accomplishing the goals of the Tatsumaki." Totosai said.

"Tatsumaki?" questioned 'Naruto'.

"I see, you haven't heard of us," Totosai began, "But then again, we're not well known as the Akatsuki was."

"I don't know what you bastards are up to, but I will kill you if it's the last thing I do!" yelled 'Naruto'.

Totosai began to laugh, "Tatsumaki is an organization of missing-nin just like the Akatsuki was, that's all you need to know for now."

"I could care less!" yelled 'Naruto'.

"Very well then," Totosai said than began to go through some hand seals. "Katon: Karyuu Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Missle)!"

A missle of fire came out of Totosai's mouth and hit 'Naruto' head on. Totosai smirked. Once the fire let up Naruto wasn't anywhere to be found.

"What? He disappeared!" Totosai said to himself as he looked around.

"Up here dipshit!" yelled the real Naruto as Totosai looked up, he only caught a glimpse of the blond ninja before a kunai slammed into his skull, or so Naruto thought as Totosai turned to mud.

"A mud Bushin." Naruto said to himself.

Naruto desperately looked around for Totosai. The real Totosai appeared behind him and stabbed Naruto with his own kunai only for Naruto to disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Another Kage Bushin," Totosai said.

Naruto appeared in front of Totosai then disappeared and reappeared behind him in a blink of an eye.

'_That speed.'_ Totosai thought.

Before Totosai could react, Naruto stabbed Totosai in the arm with his kunai. Totosai let out a painful scream.

* * *

"I wonder how Naruto-sensei and Kakashi-san doing?" asked Himawari. 

"They're probably having awesome battles right now." Hiroshi replied.

Shiro stayed quiet until they heard the piercing scream, "What was that?"

"I, I don't know," replied a little frightened Himawari.

"Himawari-chan, Shiro, I'm going to go check it out, maybe Naruto-sensei is ok."

Himawari and Shiro nodded as Hiroshi ran off in the direction he heard the scream.

* * *

"I guess in the end, I underestimated you without even trying to." Totosai spoke, "I never guessed you would have such speed." 

Naruto smirked, "It's a jutsu I created, requires no seals. I place the right amount of chakra into my legs and bam I'm as fast as light."

"I must say I'm impressed," Totosai said as he takes some of the blood from his wound.

Totosai then lifts up the sleeve of his cloak to reveal a contract tattoo for summoning.

'_Shit he's going to summon something.'_ Naruto thought as he waited.

Totosai smeared the blood across the tattoo and began making hand seals. Naruto took his kunai and slashed his arm a bit and smeared some blood on to his hands and quickly went through seals as well.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu)!" the two both yelled and a big cloud of smoke followed.

The cloud of smoke finally disappeared. Totosai was standing ontop of the head of a gigantic jaguar with its fur completely black. Naruto was standing ontop a huge red and black toad wearing a green robe and had a large sword.

"What is this?" asked the large toad.

"Why was I called here?" asked the large cat.

"_I knew this was a bad idea.'_ Totosai thought and sighed.

"Alright Gamabunta, time to kick some feline ass," Naruto said.

"Hmm, what?" Gamabunta said than realized, "Oh Naruto, it's you. Alright, I'll kick this guys ass in no time."

The jaguar just looked bored but spoke, "I don't think you can."

That did it, if it's one thing Gamabunta hated the most, and that was being underestimated.

"Alright, Naruto, let's pound on this asshole!"

"You got it, toad." Naruto said.

* * *

Hiroshi was running until he saw a big cloud of smoke, that certaintly stopped him in his tracks. 

"What the hell is going on over there?" he asked himself as he stared.

When the smoke cleared he could see two animals staring down at each other while small little figures on top of their heads.

"Whoa, what is that?" Hiroshi asked himself again with wide eyes when the answer hit him. "Wait, that's the Kuchiyose no Jutsu Iruka-sensei told us about one time."

Hiroshi than ran further and stopped when he reached his destination.

* * *

Naruto was about to let Gamabunta attack when he saw Hiroshi nearby. 

"Hiroshi!" yelled Naruto, "What are you doing here? Get away from here, it's too dangerous!"

Totosai looked at the boy and saw his nephew for the first time in his entire life, _'He looks so much like Kenji when he was little.'_

"So this is the brat you were talking about so much." Totosai yelled over to Naruto.

"Alright Neko, attack the boy."

Neko turned over to the boy and sighed out of pure boredom, the only thing the feline wanted to do was sleep but if he wanted to return to slumber, he'd obey, for now.

"Doton: Tsume no Neko (Earth Release: Claw of the Cat)!" Neko said

"Damn it!" yelled Naruto and Gamabunta got ready for his attack. "Get ready to jump on this one!"

"Suiton: Teppodama (Water Release: Gunshot)!"

A paw made of earth began to rise as claws made of rock appeared and ready to strike at Hiroshi when a bullet of water hit it turning it to mud causing the cat paw of earth and rock to fall apart. Naruto and Gamabunta turned their attention to Neko and Totosai.

"Ready?" Naruto asked while taking out an exploding tag.

"Yes I am." Gamabunta said gathering oil. "Katon: Gamayu Endan (Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet)!"

Naruto activated the tag and threw it while Gamabunta spit out the oil, the tag exploded causing the fire to hit Neko. Neko jumped causing Totosai to fall to the ground. Hiroshi wanted to help Naruto in anyway he could and noticed the tattoo on Totosai's right arm.

'_Maybe that's connected to his summoning. If I throw kunai at it, maybe it'll dispell the Kuchiyose no Jutsu.'_ Hiroshi thought and grabbed a few kunai and threw them at Totosai's arms.

The kunai all hit its target and Totosai yelled out in pain while pulling out the kunai. Unfortunately for Hiroshi, his plan didn't work as he thought.

"I'm out of here." Neko said and disappeared.

Naruto looked down to Gamabunta, "Alright, thanks for your help toad."

"Anytime kid." Gamabunta replied and too disappeared.

Naruto landed on the ground a bit hard but ok none the less while Totosai was tending to his new wounds on his other arm.

"Hiroshi, thank you, but what the hell were you thinking?" Naruto asked in a semi-yelling voice.

"Sorry Naruto-sensei, I wanted to help."

Naruto sighed, "It's okay, just don't make such rash decisions."

Totosai thought the conversation between Naruto and Hiroshi quite funny and started laughing. Naruto turned to his direction when he heard this.

"What the hell's so funny?" asked Naruto who was now angry.

"The way you talk to the boy, you talk to him as if you were his father."

Hiroshi looked at the man, something about him looked familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it right away.

"I talk to him as my student and friend." Naruto stated.

"He doesn't even know who I am and you're trying to keep it that way." Totosai said.

Hiroshi looked at the man with a confused expression and turned back to his sensei, "What does he mean, Naruto-sensei?"

"It's nothing, just forget it." Naruto said.

"You're doing it right now, in front of me and the boy." Totosai said.

"Leave the boy out of this!" yelled Naruto, "This battle is between you and me."

Hiroshi didn't understand what the hell was going on. He knew Naruto knew something that Naruto wasn't telling him and as for the blue cloaked man Naruto was fighting, he seemed familiar and it was bugging him so he decided to break his silence.

"Who are you?" asked Hiroshi.

"I'm…" Totosai began but was cut off.

"Hiroshi, it's none of your concern, go back to Shiro and Himawari." Naruto said

Hiroshi looked at his sensei and back at the man with the blue cloak.

"Naruto-sensei, please I want to know who he is."

Totosai smirked, "My real name is Kurosaki Kami, but I nowadays I go by the name of Totosai."

Hiroshi's eyes widened with shock and fear. Standing before him, fighting his sensei, was the killer of his parents. All the anger was quickly pouring into him as if the name itself just blew up the gates that were holding it back. Hiroshi clenched his fists and turned to his sensei.

"Naruto-sensei, I wish to fight him."

Naruto looked at Hiroshi as if he was crazy but then spoke, "No, I will not let you. He's too far above…"

"I wasn't asking if I can, I want to and I am." Hiroshi said with venom, unlike anything Naruto heard from him before.

Totosai looked at him with amusement written all over his face.

"He killed my parents, even if I'm defeated, I'll train with you Naruto-sensei to get stronger so one day I can kill this worthless bastard."

Naruto looked at his student, mostly of fear but with a little happiness.

"Because I'll be just like you and won't give up." Hiroshi said.

Naruto sighed, "Alright, but as soon as things aren't looking to good, I'm throwing you out of the fight and stepping in."

Hiroshi just nodded and turned to Totosai, "Alright, it's just you and me now."

Totosai just began to laugh, "You really expect me to waste my time to fight a kid like you?"

"Remember who threw the kunai into your arm without you sensing it." Hiroshi stated bluntly.

Totosai stared long and hard before breaking his silence, "Alright, but it will be a quick defeat on your part."

"I don't care, I want to see how much I need to improve." Hiroshi stated.

Hiroshi just stared at Totosai. What will become of this battle? Hiroshi knew deep down inside he wasn't going to win. He really just wanted to see how far he could go on his own.

'_Even if I lose this fight, I will seek Naruto-sensei's help in preparing me for a final battle later on.'_

* * *

**Finally, Hiroshi meets up with his uncle face to face. Until next time, see ya.**

**Name: Kubo Himawari  
Age: 12  
Rank: Genin  
Village: Konohagakure  
Known Relatives: Unnamed Mother, Unnamed Father  
Other Info: Knows most of her family's water jutsu's.**


	22. A Quick Defeat and Taking Action

**1). I do not own Naruto.**

**2). This makes twelve chapters of the Rescue Konohamaru arc.**

**3). If you haven't been reading the current manga of Naruto: Shippuuden, and I forgot to mention this in an earlier chapter for a spoiler warning. If you do not wish to know the Yondaime's real name, do not read.

* * *

**

**22. A Quick Defeat and Taking Action**

Dawn quickly turned to morning as bright sunlight filled the office of the Hokage. The blonde-haired woman was passed out on her desk showing a full nights work. She had been stressing over the events that have played out and just had to drink them away. The sun finally reached the blonde's face and she began to stir. Slowly her eyes opened and slowly raised her head. A rush of pain hit her neck and head, a headache from a night of drinking and pain at her neck from sleeping wrong on her desk. Soon the door opened a brunette walked in.

"Oh, Tsunade-sama, you're awake after all."

Tsunade groaned, "Yes Shizune, I am. So any word on Konohamaru?"

"The ANBU just came back saying a battle was being carried out between Naruto-kun and a brown haired man wearing a blue cloak with some sort of symbol on the back." Shizune said.

"So Kurosaki Kami is involved with the Tatsumaki." Tsunade said, mainly to herself.

"Tatsumaki? Who are they?" asked Shizune.

"I don't know much about them, Jiraiya told me about a group arising called Tatsumaki," Tsunade began, "He went out to get more information on this group. They're all missing-nin."

* * *

Everywhere you looked you could see the results of battle in the West Dock in the Land of Waves. All the warehouses had some sort of damage. The ground outside was torn up from two summons who just battled not to long ago. Now in the new battlefield stood Naruto, Hiroshi and Totosai, Kakashi along with Konohamaru came out of the last warehouse to see the three staring each other down. Himawari and Shino watched but from a far away, safe distance. Finally the silence was broken with yelling from Hiroshi. 

"Why did you kill my parents? Why?"

Totosai stayed silent and Hiroshi was getting impatient and began to go through hand seals, and fast.

'_The boy goes through hand seals fast, faster than Kenji and myself.'_ Totosai thought as he watched the boy. Totosai then quickly went through the same seals.

"Doton: Hashira no Zetsumei (Earth Release: Pillars of Death)!" they both yelled.

Large spikes of earth appeared out of the ground. Totosai dodged all the ones that came out of the ground while Hiroshi had a bit of trouble.

Naruto watched and thought, _'This isn't good, they're both in the same family, Totosai will just counter with the same attacks.'_

Hiroshi dodged the last pillar and stopped. Totosai then began to chuckle.

"You think you can beat me with your Ninjutsu?" Totosai asked but didn't let Hiroshi answer before speaking again, "We're both Kurosaki's, therefore I know all the Jutsu's you throw my way."

Hiroshi just stared, _'Damn it, he's right. I can't beat him with the family Jutsu, he'll just counter it.'_

'_I'll end this quickly with just a Genjutsu.'_

Totosai began performing hand seals once again. Once he finished the last hand seal, a swirl of leaves whirled around Hiroshi.

'_That didn't do anything.'_ Hiroshi mentally said to himself awaiting some kind of attack.

Naruto's eyes widened, _'Fuck, it's a Genjutsu, he has no idea how to get out of an illusion.'_

Soon Hiroshi saw his parents standing in the distance. Totosai was no where to be found, to Hiroshi, it was just him and his parents standing in the distance. Hiroshi couldn't help but to feel happy, because to him, it was all real.

"Kaa-san, Otou-san?" Hiroshi spoke.

On the battlefield, Kakashi heard what Hiroshi said but Kakashi saw was Totosai as Hiroshi approached him calling out 'Kaa-san' and 'Otou-san'.

Naruto cursed himself for letting Hiroshi take on Totosai and began running after Hiroshi.

Hiroshi approached his parents who both had smiles on them, Hiroshi's happiness quickly faded when Totosai appeared behind his parents with a sword and ready to slash his parents.

"Kaa-san, Otou-san, watch out!" yelled Hiroshi. They did not move and only kept their smile while Totosai slashed them down. Blood splattered everywhere as the two bodies of Hiroshi's parents fell to the ground with a thump. Hiroshi fell to his knees and began to cry and cry hard.

Totosai began to laugh, "You're too weak, you wouldn't of been able to save them."

Hiroshi began to cry harder and harder. Naruto finally approached Hiroshi and placed his hand on Hiroshi's shoulder and pumped his Chakra through him to end the Genjutsu. Hiroshi felt the warmth and looked up to find his parents bodies and blood no where to be found. Hiroshi looked further up to see Naruto standing over him with his hand on Hiroshi's shoulder.

"Naruto-sensei, what happened? I saw my parents get killed but no they're not there anymore."

"It was a Genjutsu, an illusion. He controlled your mind to see what he wanted you to see." Naruto replied.

Hiroshi slowly got to his feet, he was still shaking from fear and tears still escaped his eyes but soon collapsed and lost consciousness. Naruto picked up the boy and walked over to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, can you take care of him for a bit?" Naruto asked.

"Sure." Kakashi said with a nod taking the boy from Naruto.

Naruto turned back to Totosai with his fists clenched tightly and began walking back over to Totosai.

"You're a bastard and will always be a bastard." Naruto said with venom in his voice, "I will finish you off here and now!"

Naruto performed a hand seal, "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" He yelled as he created five clones.

'_So he can create Kage Bushins, eh.'_ Totosai thought as he watched.

Three Naruto clones ran behind Totosai. The one standing in the front punched Totosai in the face, the force knocking him back quickly as his back was met with the legs of the three Naruto's behind him as they kicked him into the air.

"U"

"Zu"

"Ma"

"Ki"

"Naruto Rendan!" yelled the real Naruto who was in the air and slammed his foot into Totosai's face.

The force of the blow caused Totosai to fall straight into the ground face first. Blood could be seen splashing over the grass. Finally Totosai's body came to a stop and it laid motionless for a while. Naruto found his way back to the ground and stood and waited for any kind of motion from Totosai. Naruto cautiously approached the body to check if he was either dead or knocked out cold due to the force of the blow. Naruto reached Totosai's body and bent down to check his vital signs when Totosai quickly moved and stabbed Naruto in the shoulder with his kunai. Naruto yelled in pain and kicked Totosai in the face who rolled over the ground a couple of inches. The wound in Naruto's shoulder continued to bleed as the kunai stayed in place. The wound was trying to quickly heal but could not with the kunai still lodged in Naruto's shoulder. Naruto took his right hand and pulled out the kunai with a grunt and threw it aside. The wound then began to quickly heal. Totosai slowly got up on his feet. His face was burning with pain from the earlier run in with the ground and now even more so when Naruto's foot connected to his face when he stabbed Naruto.

Totosai then laughed, "Never let your guard down."

Naruto didn't reply and began forming a Chakra ball in his left hand. Totosai's eyes widened when he saw what was happening.

'_He knows Minato's attack!'_ Totosai thought to himself, _'How did he learn that?'_

With the ball of Chakra fully ready, Naruto charged at Totosai. Not taking any chances, Totosai quickly went through a series of hand seals.

"Doton: Hashira no Zetsumei (Earth Release: Pillars of Death)!"

Pillars of earth began emerging from the ground, Naruto focused on the target at hand while effectively evading the sharp pillars of earth. Naruto reached his targer and was ready to thrust his hand into Totosai's chest.

"Rasengan!" yelled Naruto and plunged his hand forward, Totosai quickly ducked and the Rasengan hit a pillar that formed behind Totosai turning it to dust. Totosai swift-kicked Naruto off his feet and fell into the ground on his back and struggled to get up before Totosai placed his foot on Naruto's chest.

"I'll admit, you had me shocked that you know an attack that the Yondaime created but I was lucky enough to shake it off and dodge it." Totosai said taunt-like.

Totosai performed the same hand seals he did when he quickly defeated Hiroshi. A swirl of leaves appeared around Naruto.

Naruto chuckled, "A Genjutsu will not work on me." Naruto then quickly did a hand seal to cut off the Chakra flow to his brain for a short second, dispelling the Genjutsu.

Naruto brought his leg to his body before slamming it into Totosai's stomach. Totosai hurled over in pain covering his stomach. Naruto did a couple of back flips and took out Shuriken and threw them at Totosai. While Totosai was too busy holding his stomach, the Shuriken Naruto threw hit Totosai. One hit his shoulder and arms while one hit his upper thigh on his right leg. Totosai yelped in pain as the small wounds began to bleed. Quickly pulling out the Shuriken, Totosai got up. Droplets of blood fell around where Totosai stood and he glared at Naruto.

"You're pathetic." Totosai simply stated, "You were and always be nothing more than a demon brat."

Naruto was fuming with rage at what Totosai just said. Totosai smirked, his plane to enrage Naruto to where he can't think rationally was working.

"What the hell would you know?" yelled Naruto, "You haven't been in the village for years, I've gained the respect of many of the ninja and it's all I need and even though I have, I still want to become Hokage so I can protect them all!"

Totosai began to laugh, "You really think the council will let _you_, of all people, become Hokage? You're just kidding yourself."

The words were getting to Naruto and Totosai saw it in Naruto's eyes and continued to poke at Naruto's rage.

"How can you be so sure they really do respect you?" Totosai asked.

"I can be sure because they treat me like a human being!" yelled Naruto.

"They're probably just doing it because they pity you. Deep inside they still see you as the demon that attacked Konoha twenty-five years ago." Totosai said finishing it up.

"You bastard!" yelled Naruto with utmost rage and began charging at Totosai.

"Naruto!" a voice called out. Naruto stopped in his tracks to see that it was Kakashi who called out his name, "Calm down, whatever Totosai says is a lie and you know that. If you let your rage blind you, you'll surely lose this fight."

Kakashi was right, Naruto did know Totosai was lying and he was letting it get to him. All the words brought back the painful memories of his childhood. Memories of where he was all alone, memories of when the villagers turned their backs on him and dragged their children with them, memories of their insults, they were all there rushing through his mind as Totosai spoke. Naruto closed his eyes and began to clear his minds of all thoughts. In a few short minutes, Naruto's mind was clear of all thoughts and his rage left him and was able to continue the fight. Naruto opened his eyes, Totosai could see they no longer held rage, they held a sense of calmness.

'_Son of a bitch, he calmed himself down.'_ Totosai thought.

'_It's time to use my Sumiyaka no Hikari with the use of Taijutsu.'_ Naruto thought.

Naruto disappeared and reappeared behind Totosai in a blink of an eye.

'_That speed, I forgot he had that speed.'_ Totosai thought as he got worried.

Naruto quickly pulled out a kunai and stabbed Totosai in the arm. Totosai yelled out in pain and pulled it out leaving the wound to bleed for a bit. The blood traveled down his arm like a river before dripping off to the ground at his wrist. He was about to turn around to punch Naruto before Naruto disappeared and reappeared in front of Totosai. Naruto punched Totosai in the face then disappeared again and appeared at his side kicking him in the stomach. Naruto kept this up, circling around Totosai, throwing punches and kicks all across Totosai's upper body. Finally Naruto appeared in front of Totosai but a few feet back. Totosai was on his hands and knees coughing up blood from all the blows to his chest and stomach. Totosai looked up at Naruto while spit mixed with blood drooled out of his mouth falling to the ground. Totosai struggled to his feet, his body ached and his legs shook, threatening to lose strength and cause Totosai to fall back down to his knees. Totosai held himself there and stared at Naruto who was forming a Chakra ball in his hand once again. When it was complete, Naruto charged at Totosai with the full Rasengan. Totosai gathered all his strength to swift kick Naruto when he got close, but Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

'_It was a Kage Bushin.'_ Totosai thought then he saw a shadow hovering over him. Naruto and his Clone where coming down on him with a large ball of Chakra which the two where holding.

"Odama Rasengan (Grand Rasengan)!" yelled Naruto as he and the clone slammed the ball of Charka into the ground where Totosai was standing. Debris flew everywhere and the force of the attack kicked up dust. When it settled, a large crater had form with Naruto standing over it. Totosai was lying on his back near the crater. Totosai seemed to have gotten away from the main force of the blast, but didn't completely avoid the attack. Though he avoided the main blow, the force of the blast was what got him and it looked as if the debris caused cuts and bruises all over Totosai's neck and face, pretty much where skin was exposed. Naruto stood, awaiting for Totosai to get up to make his next move.

'_It's now or never.'_ Naruto thought and slowly began to approach Totosai.

* * *

**I really struggled trying to come up with Hiroshi and Totosai, since I couldn't really come up with something, I just made him pass out and lose quickly over a Genjutsu, I know it's lame, but I couldn't think of anything else, and I've been trying to sort out ideas for this chapter for the last few days but nothing would stick in mind so I just had to go with this. Until next time, see ya.**


	23. The Escape of the Tatsumaki!

**1). I do not own Naruto.**

**2). This is the thirteenth and final chapter of the Rescue Konohamaru arc.**

**3). The next arc will be a small, filler arc before the next major. The two arc summeries are in my profile now**

* * *

**23. The Escape of the Tatsumaki!**

'_It's now or never.' _Naruto thought as he slowly approached Totosai's body.

Naruto stopped short, he wasn't going to let Totosai get him again like last time Totosai tricked him. Naruto thought of what to do to see if either Totosai was really out cold or trying to trick him again. Finally it hit him and Naruto pulled out a Kunai and threw it at Totosai. It made a thud as it hit Totosai in the back, just short of his spine. Totosai yelled out in pain signaling he was in fact trying to trick Naruto once again.

"You won't get trick me twice." Naruto said flatly.

Totosai tried to pull out the Kunai from his back but he could not reach it. Then a familiar boy approached Totosai and pulled out the Kunai. Totosai yelled in pain after he was not expecting it to be pulled out. He looked up to find Sumi standing over him.

"What do you want Sumi, I'm in the middle of a battle, can't you see that?" Totosai spoke.

"But Totosai-sama, you're in no condition to continue battling." Sumi replied.

Naruto stood and watched as more blue-cloaked members appeared along side Totosai. Shippuu, Akuma, Senpuu, Tsunami, Sumi and even the one with snow-white hair that Naruto knocked out only an hour ago all stood. Kakashi and Konohamaru appeared beside Naruto as the Konoha ninja and Tatsumaki stared at each other ready for combat. All the members of the Tatsumaki presented the injuries they had all aquired in battle against the Konoha ninja.

"Let's go, we've lost our footing here." Totosai spoke trying, but could not get up.

Akuma and Shippu helped Totosai to his feet.

"Totosai-sama, what happened?" asked Akuma.

"Don't worry about it, let's get out of here."

The members of the Tatsumaki quickly retreated from the area; Naruto was going to give chase when Kakashi grabbed Naruto to stop him. Naruto turned to Kakashi with a confused look on his face.

"We don't need to go after them, the fight is already over and we've got Konohamaru." Kakashi said.

For Naruto, he wasn't going after all of them, just Totosai. Naruto sighed and walked over to Hiroshi who was now being watched by Himawari and Shiro. Himawari looked up at Naruto with worry in her eyes.

"Naruto-sensei, is Hiroshi-kun going to be alright?" Himawari asked with worry and concern in her voice.

Naruto bent down to pick up Hiroshi, "Yes Himawari, he'll be find, he's just sleeping. He used up a lot of his chakra and suffered from a harsh Genjutsu."

'_But damn does this kid have a lot of chakra to battle three times in one night, even if the third one was a quick one.'_ Naruto thought.

Kakashi, Naruto with Hiroshi in hand along with Himawari and Shiro walking by his side left the West Dock, or what was left of it after the major battles against the Tatsumaki.

* * *

Kakashi and Naruto entered Inari's office of the Wave's Hall as Himawari and Shiro waited outside watching over the sleeping and slightly injured Hiroshi. 

Naruto was the first to speak, "Well Inari, we managed to get back Konohamaru and chased out those bastards but…"

"But the West Dock has been badly damaged." Kakashi finished with a worried look in his eye, if you actually paid attention.

Inari nodded, "As to be expected, so don't blame yourself for it."

* * *

With a final farewell, the Konoha ninja took to the tree tops to head back home while Inari went to the West Dock to asses the damage. When Inari reached the dock, to say he was shocked at the damage was an understatement. 

"They almost totaled it!" yelled Inari which he quickly then sighed and returned to his office.

* * *

Evening time had reached Konoha as Sakura and her team finished up their training for the day. Tsunade gave her the day to train her team in areas they needed to work on. It was getting late and it was time to let the team go for the day. 

"Alright, training is complete for today. Go home and get some good rest, 'cause you're going to need it tomorrow."

"Hai, Sakura-sensei." Shinji said as he, Ankoku and Aki waved goodbye to Sakura and began to run to their respective homes.

Sakura smiled and turned to head for her apartment, which was on the other side of Konoha. She walked quietly, she liked these peaceful walks home when it was quiet but of course the quiet soon turned to noise as she approached the main gate where the traffic of people coming in and leaving was still there. The traffic quickly died down and there was still some noise in the air. Sakura reached the gate and was about to completely pass it when seven ninja jumped from the last tree into the gate. Standing at the gate was Kakashi, Naruto who was holding a still sleeping Hiroshi, Himawari and Shiro. They obviously had some minor cuts and Naruto had a stab wound at his shoulder that had healed quickly. Naruto was breathing hard as if he had all his energy drained. Sakura's smile quickly faded when Naruto fell to the ground.

"Naruto!" she yelled running to him.

"Kakashi-sensei, what happened to him?" she asked with tears forming in her eyes.

"Don't worry, he'll be okay. He's probably just exhausted, he had a hard battle along with carrying Hiroshi all the way back from the Land of Waves." Kakashi replied, "But I should get him to the hospital for a check up on his shoulder. It healed quickly but I don't know it was pretty deep."

* * *

Naruto awoke to a white room. He looked around and quickly knew where he was. 

'_Damn it, I ended up here again. I hate this place.'_ Naruto thought as he sighed staring at the ceiling, what he didn't notice was his favorite pink-haired kunoichi sitting in a chair beside his bed.

"Oh, Naruto, you're finally awake." Sakura said in a happy and relieved voice.

Naruto turned his head and smiled widely after he saw who it was, "Hey, Sakura-chan, how have you been?"

"I'm fine, but look at yourself you baka." She said teasingly.

"Why am I in the hospital anyway? I wasn't that injured, was I?" Naruto asked.

"Not really, but Kakashi-sensei wanted your shoulder checked." Sakura replied, "Healed it myself."

Naruto continued to grin his fox-like grin, "Thanks Sakura-chan."

* * *

Tsunade, along with Shizune, were having a meeting with Kakashi about the mission. 

"So it was the Tatsumaki after all?" asked Tsunade.

"Hai, Hokage-sama, it was." Kakashi replied.

Tsunade sighed, "Well thank you, that's all the information I needed, you two are dismissed."

The two left the room while Tsunade began to message her temples.

"I feel we will have a new problem in the near future, Shizune."

Shizune nodded in agreement. Suddenly the door flew wide open. In the door frame stood a man with snow-white hair with red marks from his eyes going down his face. He wore a headband with the symbol for oil on it.

"Jiraiya, knock before you enter!" scolded Tsunade.

Jiraiya laughed, "Sorry about that. Well I got a little more information on the Tatsumaki."

"Really? Hand it over," demanded Tsunade.

Jiraiya threw a folder on Tsunade's desk. Tsunade picked it up and looked in it to find a picture.

"That's the leader of the Tatsumaki."

Tsunade sighed, "Yep, we have a new problem on our hands. Did you find anything else out about them, like a goal or something?"

"Not yet, but I did find out why they tried taking the Waves' docks." Jiraiya said.

"What then?" asked Tsunade.

"I don't know exactly, but they wanted to use the Waves' docks so they could ship in some sort of Narcotic into the mainland." Jiraiya said.

"They wanted to ship in drugs?" Tsunade asked in confusion.

"I don't think it's any kind of drug, more like trying to dull out someone's mind so they can easily trick the person to do their bidding." Jiraiya replied.

"Now why would they want to do that?" asked Tsunade.

"That I do not know as of yet, but once I find it out, you'll be the first to know." Jiraiya said.

* * *

Naruto laid in bed while Sakura sat in a chair. They had been silent for some time, but they did not mind, they just enjoyed each other's company until Sakura finally decided to break the silence. 

"How'd you get that wound in the shoulder anyway?" asked Sakura.

"Fighting, my opponent stabbed me with a Kunai." Naruto answered.

Sakura giggled, "You let him stab you with a Kunai, that's not like you."

Naruto laughed too, "Yeah, after I got him with my Uzumaki Naruto Rendan, I thought I knocked him out, I had it coming."

"Baka." Sakura said with a smile.

Naruto said, "But the bastard got away along with his comrades."

"Who?" asked Sakura.

"A man named Kurosaki Kami, but he goes by the name Totosai. He's a member of this group called Tatsumaki."

"Kurosaki Kami? Isn't one of your students a Kurosaki?"

Naruto nodded, "He's the bastard that killed Hiroshi's parents. I was trying to kill him myself, but he got away."

'_He really cares about his student.'_ Sakura thought, _'He cares about everyone precious to him.'_

Naruto sat up, "But next time, if I ever see him again, I'll make sure I'll kill him, for Hiroshi's sake."

"I'm sure you will be able to next time, but for now you should get some more rest. You were on borderline on Chakra depletion which is another reason why you are here." Sakura said getting up.

She went over to Naruto and kissed his forehead and turned to leave but spoke before doing so, "I'll come back to visit you later, okay?"

Naruto smiled, "Hai, Sakura-chan."

Sakura left the room and closed the door, _'Oh man, did I really kiss Naruto on the forehead?'_

Inside the room, Naruto held his hand to his forehead. _'Sakura-chan kissed me on the forehead!'_ Naruto screamed in his mind happy and drifted off to sleep once again.

* * *

Hiroshi sat on his porch looking at pretty much nothing. The memory of the Genjutsu he was placed under fresh in mind. Soon a figure was standing over him. 

"Ototo?" the boy of fifteen or sixteen asked.

"Surudoi!" Hiroshi said, "When did you get back from your three month mission?"

"Yesterday, say where's Kaa-san and Otou-san?"

Hiroshi's head fell and tears began to form in his eyes, "They're, they're dead."

"What?" Surudoi asked.

"They were killed by our uncle, Kami."

Surudoi clenched his fists. "I'm sorry Ototo, but I'm leaving for another mission."

Hiroshi sighed, "It's okay, I'll probably stay at Naruto-sensei's when he gets out of the hospital."

"So you got Naruto as your sensei?" Surudoi asked and Hiroshi nodded, "I've heard that he's quite strong, you're lucky."

"I've barely seen him in action, but he's quite skilled." Hiroshi replied.

"Well I've got to go, see you in a week." Surudoi waved and left.

'_It must be tiring to be in the ANBU.'_ Hiroshi thought.

* * *

Naruto laid in bed letting his mind wonder, then the words of Totosai hit him. The revelation that in fact that the Yondaime Hokage was the one to seal the Kyuubi inside him, the one Hokage Naruto respected the most, was the one that gave Naruto his horrible childhood, maybe Totosai was lying then too and he'd ask Tsunade or Jiraiya if what was true. Sure enough, Tsunade walked into his room. 

"You're up, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine, Tsunade-baachan." Naruto said.

Tsunade ignored the comment and took another look at his shoulder, "I'll release you from here tomorrow, okay?"

Naruto nodded and then decided to speak, "Tsunade-baachan, is it true?"

"What?" Tsunade asked puzzled.

"Is it true that Yondaime was the one to seal the Kyuubi inside of me?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade could see the hurt and confusion in his eyes, she sighed.

"I'm afraid so." Tsunade replied.

"So it's true, the Hokage I admired the most as a kid was the one that created the hard childhood I had."

Naruto closed his eyes, "I'm going to sleep, goodnight Tsunade-baachan."

Tsunade got up and patted Naruto on the head, "Goodnight Naruto." She then walked out of the room.

* * *

Night had fallen and Hiroshi decided it was time to go to bed, _'If Naruto get's out of the hospital tomorrow, I'm going to ask him if he'll teach me a new jutsu so I could use against Kami the next time I face him.'_

With that thought resting in his mind, Hiroshi got up and walked inside his home and locked the door and headed to his room to sleep the night away.

* * *

**Another chapter that was mostly dialouge, but oh well. Finally another arc completed, until next time, see ya.**


	24. A Request for Special Training

**1). I do not own Naruto.**

**2). This is the first chapter in this Special Training Filler arc. There's only one more left so don't worry.**

* * *

**24. A Request for Special Training**

Sun light found its way into one of the many hospital rooms. The blinds where left open and the sun was lightly crawling across the face of a blond-haired ninja, the blond began to stir and tried to close his eyes even more than they were but to no avail. The sunlight won over and the blond-haired ninja awoke. He let out an annoyed-sounding groan.

'_I should kick the person who left the blinds open's ass,'_ thought Naruto who seemingly was angry that he was awoken at nine in the morning, according to the clock on the wall.

Naruto sighed again and ended up staring at the wall. If he wasn't being so lazy right now, he would have gotten up and closed the damn blinds himself. Naruto still hated being here, he was always bored out of his mind but Naruto was glad he was getting the hell out of the place.

A two and half hours had passed, it was now 11:30 and Naruto was starting to get very impatient.

'_Where the hell is Tsunade-baachan, I want to get out of here already!'_ Naruto yelled in his mind when a knock came to his door. "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Naruto's favorite pink-haired Kunoichi. Though she wasn't Tsunade coming in to tell him he was sprung from this 'jail', he still was very happy.

"Hey there Sakura-chan," Naruto greeted her with a huge grin on his face.

Sakura smiled, "I've come to check up on you; how are you feeling today?"

"I'm feeling better, though I wish Tsunade-baachan would hurry up so I can get the hell out of this horrid place." Naruto said with a slight pout which caused Sakura to giggle at his childish behavior as Naruto always acted like this when he spent numerous days in the hospital and everybody knew this was the one place Naruto hated the most, "And the first thing I'm going to do is get Ramen!"

Sakura shook her head, _'He'll love Ramen 'til the day he dies.'_

Naruto blushed a bit, "Uh so Sakura-chan, would you, uh, would you want to join me?"

Even though Sakura would accept his offers for Ramen once in a while, Naruto was still always nervous about asking her.

"Sure, it wouldn't hurt." Sakura said with a smile.

Naruto's nervous looking face turned into a big huge fox-like grin then spoke, "Well first I have to get out of here!"

The Gods must have been listening to him for once as Tsunade walked into the room. She smirked when she saw Sakura with him but neither did Naruto or Sakura notice.

"Alright gaki, you're free to go."

Naruto sprung out of bed in the blink of an eye, "Thank you Tsunade-baachan, thank you!"

Tsunade sighed, "Would you please stop calling me that!"

Naruto ignored her and took his gaze to Sakura, "You want to go now or later?"

"Now will be fine," Sakura replied.

Tsunade interrupted, "And by the way, Naruto, take it easy today, in fact, I order you to take the day off today."

* * *

Kurosaki Hiroshi had just finally woke up, the first time he slept in so late since becoming a ninja a couple of weeks ago. To him, it felt good to get some extra sleep but of course Hiroshi was kind of upset since he wanted to Naruto to see if Naruto could teach him anything that he could use against Kami the next time he faced the bastard. 

After finally getting himself out of bed, Hiroshi took a quick shower. After he dried off and put on fresh, clean clothes he went through one of the drawers of his dresser and got some of the money that he was hiding under a black t-shirt.

'_I'll guess I'll go get some Ramen then try to find Naruto-sensei.'_

Hiroshi then walked out of his house, closed the door and locked and began heading to the Ramen bar.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura were sitting at the bar awaiting their orders of Ramen. Naruto obviously couldn't wait to have it. Naruto hadn't eaten Ramen since he and his team left for the Hidden Waterfall and that was far too long in Naruto's opinion. 

"I haven't eaten any Ramen since before I left for the Hidden Waterfall." Naruto said.

"How did you manage to survive?" Sakura asked in a mock-teasing tone.

"Well there was the fact that I was fighting Sasuke-teme, then when I came back I was immediately rushed to the Land of Waves with Kakashi-sensei to rescue Konohamaru from the Tatsumaki." Naruto answered as if Sakura asked her question seriously.

"I was kidding, Naruto." Sakura said.

Two bowls of hot, fresh Ramen were placed in front of the two ninja. Naruto and Sakura broke their chopsticks apart and began eating the Ramen. Sakura had finished her first bowl as Naruto was practically inhaling his fifth or sixth bowl, hell the Chef lost count.

"That was good." Naruto said patting his stomach and Sakura smiled a bit.

"Next time, try not to eat like a barbarian." Sakura said punching Naruto's right arm lightly.

Hiroshi had walked in right as Sakura lightly punched Naruto's arm. Hiroshi smiled a bit seeing his sensei with Sakura. Hiroshi thought he's only seen Naruto around Sakura a couple of times, he did notice that Naruto was happiest when around her.

"Well Naruto, arigato for the Ramen, but I must get back to the hospital." Sakura said but inside, she didn't want to go.

"Ah, do you really have to, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked put the biggest pout he could muster on his face. Sakura giggled thinking it was actually quite cute when he did that.

"Unfortunately Naruto, yes I have to." Sakura replied, "Hmm, how about we come back tonight, that okay with you?"

'_She's asking me to Ramen for once!'_ Naruto screamed in his head while he jumped for joy in there, "Yeah, that will be great Sakura-chan!"

Sakura smiled, "Good, see you later then."

"Bye, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as Sakura left the Ramen stand.

Naruto was about to get up and leave when he noticed Hiroshi sit down next to him.

"Hello there Hiroshi," Naruto said.

"Hey Naruto-sensei," Hiroshi said with a weird looking smile on his face.

Naruto was slightly confused, back in the Land of Waves, though Hiroshi did say he wanted to fight even if he'd lose, Naruto thought Hiroshi would be depressed about his real easy loss to Totosai but Naruto was glad Hiroshi wasn't sulking, it showed Hiroshi accepted defeat and Naruto wondered if he should teach Hiroshi something to benefit him against Totosai if they ever met up with the bastard again.

"What brings you here?" asked Naruto.

"Well I was going to have lunch then look for you." Hiroshi replied, "But it seems I killed two birds with one stone without having to."

Naruto looked at him with a strange look, "You were going to look for me, for what?"

A bowl of hot, fresh Ramen was placed before Hiroshi. Hiroshi grabbed the chopsticks and broke them apart and began to eat before answering Naruto. For some unknown reason, Hiroshi was scared to ask his sensei to teach him something that Kami could not counter with his own.

"Well, why were you going to look for me?" Naruto asked again.

Hiroshi sighed and gathered his courage and finally spoke, "Well I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask me what?" Naruto asked, cutting in.

"I wanted to ask you if you could teach me some kind of jutsu that Kami doesn't know." Hiroshi finally said.

Naruto pondered for a bit, he was considerately thinking about teaching the boy either the Rasengan or the Kage Bushin since the boy seemed to have a high level of chakra at his disposal. Naruto's silence was scaring Hiroshi, he was having second thoughts about asking that particular question but finally Naruto spoke calming Hiroshi's nerves.

"As I've been observing you, I did notice you seem to have a lot of chakra at your disposal, more so than Shiro and Himawari." Naruto replied.

"Really?" asked Hiroshi.

"I've made up my mind, I'll train you. I'll teach you the Kage Bushin." Naruto said.

"Are you serious, the Kage Bushin?" asked Hiroshi.

"Hai." Naruto replied.

Hiroshi was jumping for joy inside his mind. It didn't even cross his mind that his sensei would teach him out to use the Kage Bushin. When watching Naruto, he always thought the Kage Bushin was cool, better than a regular Bushin which Hiroshi, in his opinion, find useless, then Hiroshi stopped cheering, for unknown reason he felt a 'but' coming on.

"But, we will have to start tomorrow." Naruto stated.

"Ah, why?" asked a slightly disappointed Hiroshi.

"Tsunade-baachan told me to take it easy today."

"You're kidding, right?" asked Hiroshi.

"Usually I go against her, but this time around she ordered me to take the day off." Naruto said. "But don't have a cow Hiroshi, we definitely will begin your special training tomorrow."

"Okay then." Hiroshi said.

"Well Hiroshi, I've got to get going. Since I have the day off, I might as well do some needed chores around my apartment." Naruto said getting up from his stool.

"Hai, Naruto-sensei." Hiroshi replied.

Before Naruto left he turned around, "Hiroshi, meet me at the training grounds and 9 am. Tomorrow's special training will be rough."

Hiroshi smiled, "Hai, Naruto-sensei, I'll be there."

Naruto smiled and walked out of the Ramen stand.

* * *

Naruto walked slowly back to his apartment. Having the day off was a killer to Naruto as he liked to spend his free time working on his jutsu or some kind of training. Naruto wasn't the kind of person to just sit around and do nothing, it only happened when he was forced to, like today. He would have loved to start Hiroshi's training today but that can't happen all because of Tsunade. Naruto usually would disobey her, but most of the time because she never 'ordered' him too. This was one of the rare times Tsunade did order Naruto to take it easy. Naruto wasn't about to disobey an 'order' because if Tsunade found out, her ANBU would be picking what's left of Naruto up with a sponge. 

Naruto was too deep in thought and didn't notice a woman walking in his direction. The two collided and both fell to the ground. Naruto was the first to get up and went to help the woman up. Naruto extended his hand so she could grab it and pull her up.

"Sorry about, I wasn't paying attention where I was going." Naruto said rubbing the back of his head.

"I-it's alright, N-Naruto-kun." Said the woman in a soft voice, Naruto then realized who it was.

"Oh, Hinata, for a second there I didn't realize it was you." Naruto said.

Her long purple hair was slightly moving in the light breeze. A gust kicked up and blew some of her hair in front of her pale, pupil-less eyes. Hinata moved it out of her face. She was wearing a purple and white jacket over a black mess shirt. Her jacket covered some of her blue sweat pants.

"So Hinata, how have you been?" asked Naruto. Naruto hadn't seen Hinata in almost a month.

'_N-Naruto-kun is actually t-trying to h-hold a c-conversation with me.'_ "I-I've been good, h-how about you, N-Naruto-kun." Hinata said stuttering, "How a-about you?"

"Good, been keeping busy. I've been going out on missions lately with my team." Naruto replied.

"S-so Tsunade-sama g-gave you a team too." Hinata said.

"Oh, you got one too?" asked Naruto.

"Hai." Hinata replied.

'_I didn't even see or notice her in the office that morning, jeez.'_ Naruto thought. "Well Hinata, I hate to cut this short, but I must get going. See you later Hinata.

"Hai, no problem, goodbye Naruto-kun." Hinata replied.

Naruto waved goodbye and began walking to his apartment once again. After about another ten minutes of walking he finally reached the door to his apartment. He unlocked the door, opened it and stepped inside. The place was actually clean, Naruto thought he had left it a complete mess before leaving on his missions, but Naruto proved himself wrong. Naruto sighed and decided to lay in his bed and let the thoughts of what Totosai said about the Yondaime sealing the Kyuubi inside him. Soon the thoughts faded as Naruto fell asleep. The peacefulness of the day just soothed him right to sleep. Naruto quickly woke up and set his alarm for seven P.M., he did not want to miss dinner with Sakura. He climbed back into bed and drifted off to sleep once again awaiting for seven to come.

The alarm continued to go off while Naruto slowly got up. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and turned off his alarm. He took a quick shower. Once dried and had clean clothes on, Naruto left his apartment and made way to the Hospital where he'd meet up with Sakura before going out to eat.

* * *

**Until next time, see ya.**


	25. Hiroshi's Special Training: Kage Bushin!

**1). I do not own Naruto!**

**2). The final chapter in this filler arc!**

* * *

**25. Hiroshi's Special Training: Kage Bushin no Jutsu!**

The cool night breeze blew through his blonde locks as he walked toward a destination in deep thought. His eyes where staring out at the ground, but not directly at his feet. Naruto still had this feeling there was something being hidden from him. Naruto would find out what it is one way or another, but of course now was not the time to think about such trivial things as he figured out he was at his destination, the hospital where Sakura would be getting out right about….now. Sure enough Sakura came out of the front doors. She immediately saw Naruto standing, waiting and grinning like mad. Sakura waved and walked over Naruto. He looked into her eyes and he could tell the poor woman was tired as hell.

"You know, we don't have to do this today. I can see you're very tired Sakura-chan." Naruto said with concern.

Sakura smiled, "Don't worry about Naruto, let's just go."

"Hai," was all Naruto said and the two began to walk to Ichiraku's.

Their walk was plagued with silence as once again the thoughts of Totosai's words about the Fourth sealing Kyuubi inside him flooded his mind. For some strange reason, Naruto knew there was more to the story than just that, something bigger. Naruto noticed Sakura was talking and quickly shook the thoughts out of his head once again to listen to his cherry blossom.

"Naruto, are you even listening to me?" asked Sakura.

"No, gomen Sakura-chan, I have had something on my mind lately." Naruto replied.

Naruto winced ready to be pounded into a bloody pulp by one of Sakura's massive punches, but the hit didn't calm. Naruto turned to look in her eyes and found concern in her emerald orbs.

"What's on your mind?" Sakura asked.

"I'll tell you in a minute." Naruto said pointing to Ichiraku's, indicating they have arrived.

Sakura and Naruto ordered the bowls of Ramen and the cook retreated to the kitchen to prepare their meals. Sakura turned to Naruto.

"So, what's been on your mind?" asked Sakura again.

Naruto sighed, "When I was fighting the main member of the Tatsumaki, he told me something that shocked me."

Sakura nodded, "Go on."

"He called me the 'brat the Fouth sealed the Kyuubi in.'" Naruto said.

Sakura eyes widened at what Naruto was saying to her. Naruto continued.

"After you left yesterday from my hospital room, Tsunade-baachan came in to check on me. I asked her if it was true that the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi inside me. It was indeed a fact."

Naruto let his head down in sadness, then he felt an arm around him.

"It's okay Naruto." Sakura said reassuringly.

"The Hokage I admired the most turned out to be the same one that sealed this damn fox inside me." Naruto said placing his hand over his stomach where the seal lied, "But there is something more to it, I just can feel it."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked still having her arm around the blonde ninja to keep assuring me it was okay.

"I don't know exactly how to explain it; I just know there is more to this story of the Fourth sealing the Kyuubi inside me." Naruto replied.

The chef placed the two bowls of Ramen in front of Naruto and Sakura. Naruto began to pick at his food. Sakura used her other arm to feed herself while keeping her left around Naruto.

"Gomen, Naruto." Sakura said. She didn't know exactly what to say to him.

"It's alright Sakura-chan, being here with you and talking about it makes me feel a bit better." Naruto replied with a forced smile.

"So what are you going to do?" asked Sakura.

Naruto sighed, "I don't know yet, but I'm definitely going to find out on way or another."

Sakura tightened her grip on Naruto to keep him reassured it was okay and that she was there for him. Naruto began to eat his Ramen more and soon he was finished. Sakura had finished before Naruto as Naruto was talking about what was bothering him lately. Silence had fallen on the two former teammates until Naruto decided to lighten the mood after his serious outcry.

"So, how's your team doing?" asked Naruto.

"They're doing good. We've managed to finish our twentieth D-Rank mission the other day." Sakura said with a smile. Naruto chuckled causing Sakura to get a little angry, "Oh yeah, what about your team?"

"My team has a record of 15 D-Rank Missions, 1 B-Rank and 1 A-Rank." Naruto said with a big goofy grin.

Sakura's jaw slightly dropped, "A B-Rank and an A-Rank, but how, they're only Genin?!"

"Well the B-Rank was the mission that I ended up fighting Sasuke-teme. The A-Rank was the one I just came back from." Naruto replied.

"But still, they're only Genin!" Sakura said still not believing.

"They're damn good Genin." Naruto said.

"We'll see." Sakura said with a smirk.

Naruto finally finished his Ramen and the two got up from their seats and walked out of the place.

"Care for me to walk you home?" asked Naruto.

"Sure." Sakura said smiling.

The two walked in silence, but very much enjoying their company through the quite, empty and barely lit streets. The stars and the moon shined brightly. After about twenty minute walk, the two reached Sakura's apartment building.

"So, what are you doing tomorrow?" asked Sakura.

"Well I'm going to teach Hiroshi the Kage Bushin, he has a large chakra amount." Naruto said with a grin.

Sakura's head slumped, she was off tomorrow and hoped to of spent more time with her blonde former teammate. Naruto noticed the distress come across her face.

"How about we go out again tomorrow night?" asked Naruto.

Sakura's spirit was lifted and she smiled, "Sure Naruto, I would love to."

Naruto leaned in and kissed her cheek, smiled and spoke, "Goodnight, Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled, "Goodnight, Naruto."

Sakura turned to the apartment building and proceeded to her apartment. Naruto began to walk home again. This time his mind was invaded with thoughts of Sakura, much to his pleasure.

Naruto reached his apartment and unlocked the door and walked in closing the door behind him. He kicked off his shoes, took of his jacket and made a b line to his room collapsing on the bed. Before Naruto knew it, he was fast asleep.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes slowly as the daylight that was infiltrating his room shined into his eyes. He let out a monster yawn before sitting up at the edge the bed. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and took a look at the clock that read 9:30 in the morning. It took about a full minute before it snuck into the blonde's tired brain. 

"Shit, I'm late!" Naruto said quickly getting up.

He took a quick shower, the fastest one he had ever done in his entire life. He quickly got dressed and dashed out the door with the clock reading 9:40 in the morning. Naruto did not waste time, he took the rooftops to Team Eleven's training ground. Naruto did use his Sumiyaka no Hikari no Jutsu (Speed of Light Technique) a few times on the way there. Finally, in a flash he arrived at the training grounds to find Hiroshi waiting. Naruto appeared in front of Hiroshi rubbing the back of his head and giving out a nervous laugh.

"Gomen, I know I'm late Hiroshi, I overslept." Naruto said.

Hiroshi smirked, "It's okay Naruto-sensei, you were probably with Sakura-sensei."

'_How the hell does he know?'_ Thought Naruto.

"So how does this go?" asked Hiroshi.

"Well first off, gather all your chakra." Naruto said.

"Hai," Hiroshi replied.

Hiroshi made a hand seal and began to gathering chakra. Naruto continued to watch before speaking up.

"Alright, know this is the seal I use to create Kage Bushins." Naruto said showing him a cross type hand seal.

Hiroshi followed suit.

"Quickly imagine yourself being multiplied."

Hiroshi did what he was told, "Kage Bushin no Jutsu! (For those who honestly don't know what that is: Shadow Replication Technique)"

A clone of Hiroshi appeared, but it was white. Hiroshi looked at it in embarrassment.

"Well…" Naruto tired to speak, "That's a start I guess."

Hiroshi didn't say anything and undid the jutsu. Naruto thought for a minute than spoke up again.

"I guess I forgot to mention you have to divide your chakra evenly amongst the clones." Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment of his forgetfulness and here he was supposed to be a teacher to Hiroshi, Himawari and Shiro.

"Yeah, that would help, thanks sensei." Hiroshi said rolling his eyes.

Hiroshi did the hand seal again and called out, "Kage Bushin no Jutsu (Shadow Replication)!"

This time a healthy looking clone appeared at right side of Hiroshi. Same brown hair, same clothing, everything was exactly the same. Naruto smiled.

"Good, now keep practicing until you can make at least five and we'll call it a day." Naruto said.

"Why?" asked Hiroshi.

"Well Kage Bushin no Jutsu does take up a lot of chakra. Infact, it's a Kinjutsu," Naruto replied.

"Kinjutsu?" asked a confused Hiroshi.

"Forbidden Jutsu, it's a Jounin level technique. It's forbidden because it uses too much chakra. Only people with high levels of chakra could actually use this technique over a long period of time." Naruto answered.

"Like you?" asked Hiroshi.

"Hai Hiroshi, like me," Naruto said with a smile. "Now get to practicing, you still have four more clones to create before we call it a day."

Hiroshi continued to practice the Kage Bushin for the next few hours as Naruto observed his progression. It was slower than Naruto would have hopped. Naruto remember that night where he learned the jutsu. He failed the academy graduation exams and Mizuki told him if he could learn a jutsu from the forbidden scroll, he'd pass and become a Genin. It only took Naruto an hour to fully master the jutsu and was able to create hundreds upon thousands of clones. Hiroshi had been practicing for three hours and only made four. Maybe teaching him the Kage Bushin was a mistake on Naruto's part, just before Naruto was going to tell him maybe the Kage Bushin was a bad idea, Hiroshi managed to summon fifty clones. Hiroshi went from only being able to create four clones and jumped to being able to learn fifty.

"And here I was beginning to doubt if you'd even be able to get this jutsu down." Naruto began, "Then you jump from making four clones to fifty."

Hiroshi smiled with triumph, he finally got the jutsu down, "And shall I continue?"

"Are you feeling exhausted?" Naruto asked, "I don't want you to use up all your chakra."

Hiroshi thought for a second and concentrated on how his body felt then replied, "I think I can go for one more."

"Alright, show me what you've got." Naruto said.

Hiroshi did the hand seal and yelled, "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

This time, instead of fifty clones, Hiroshi seemed to summon a hundred and fifty but the jutsu quickly dispelled. Hiroshi fell to his knees.

"I think you over did it with that one, Hiroshi." Naruto said.

"Gomen, Naruto-sensei," Hiroshi said.

"No worries, just go home and rest. Training is complete, you've got Kage Bushin down." Naruto said smiling, rubbing his student's hair.

"Arigatou, Naruto-sensei, for teaching me this awesome technique," Hiroshi said.

"Of course, you're going to need it." Naruto said

"What if Himawari and Shiro find out you personally taught me?" asked Hiroshi.

Naruto thought about it for a few seconds, "I don't think they'd get too upset."

Hiroshi nodded the almost forgot to ask his teacher something, "Oh, Naruto-sensei?"

"Hai?" Naruto turned around to let Hiroshi speak.

"Are we to meet up here tomorrow?" asked Hiroshi.

"Nope, you guys have the day off tomorrow." Naruto replied with a smile.

Hiroshi smiled and walked home to get his well deserved rest. Naruto began to walk back to his apartment so he could start setting up his little 'date' with Sakura.

'_That kid's something else, he'll be a force to reckon with once he gets older and more experience.'_ Naruto thought as walked back home.

* * *

Night had fallen and Naruto was walking to Sakura's apartment complex, the stupidest thing was he had forgotten to ask her which apartment she lived in. Sakura had recently moved there and Naruto hadn't had time to visit her place just yet. Lucky for him when he got to the complex, Sakura was waiting outside for him. He mentally thanked Kami. 

"Hello Sakura-chan." Naruto said with a big smile.

"Good evening Naruto." Sakura said also with a smile.

The two began walking, not knowing really were they were going. The two didn't even notice how long they had walked but the two stopped at an open filled and laid down next to each other on the ground staring at the stars that shined ever so brightly over Konohagakure. They walked to the spot in silence enjoying one another's company and so far they were silent staring up at the stars.

"The sky is so pretty." Sakura said finally breaking the silence.

"It sure is." Naruto said staring at the black with millions of white dots all over its canvas. Times like these were when Naruto felt at peace, especially with Sakura be his side. The two held small talk for hours as they gazed at the beautiful night sky. Occasionally seeing a shooting star and whatnot and finally after two hours of staring and talking the two decided it was time to head back home. They reached Sakura's apartment complex this time around it was Sakura to kiss Naruto on his cheek.

"Goodnight, Naruto." Sakura said with a smile.

"Goodnight, Sakura-chan." Naruto said back placing a hand on the cheek she kissed while she walked to her apartment.

After a couple of seconds Naruto finally turned and began to walking to his apartment. He was so deep in thought he failed to see a man walking ahead of him. The two collided, Naruto stumbled but managed to keep his balance, he was about to give whoever bumped into him an ass kicking of a lifetime, but quickly recognized the snow-white haired old man.

"Ero-sennin, what are you doing here?" asked Naruto.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that in public, you baka?" said Jiraiya.

"You stupid old pervert, look around you, there's no one else around!" yelled Naruto.

Jiraiya sighed then Naruto spoke up again, "There's something I want to talk to you about."

Jiraiya was about to walk away when he noticed the seriousness in his eyes, "About what, Naruto?"

* * *

**Oops, I think I overdid it, way more minor fluff between Naruto and Sakura then I had originally intended, and there's the fact of the chapter title while it seems that the chapter ended up more revolved around Naruto and Sakura than Hiroshi's training, but then again when I was thinking about it, there's really no explanation on how to learn the Kage Bushin in the anime or manga, so that had me stumped, so I guess that's why the chapter turned out the way it did, but oh well, the last part starts the basis for the next arc, with that said I hoped you enjoyed this chapter so until next time, see ya.**


	26. A Search Begins!

**1). Disclaimer:I Do Not Own Naruto!**

**2). This is the first chapter in the Search For Answers arc.**

**3). I'm on vacation from work this week, it started yesterday so I'll probably update the story pretty fequently this week.**

* * *

**25. A Search Begins!**

Naruto walked quietly trying to find a secluded spot so he could tell Jiraiya about the things Totosai had told him and maybe try to pry more out of the old pervert. Jiraiya followed the young man wondering what the blonde could possibly want to talk to him about. Since the defeat of the Akatsuki, Jiraiya no longer had to keep an eye on Naruto, though when they returned to Konoha those years ago after their training trip and giving Kakashi supervision of Naruto, he still kept a look out for the Naruto, but now the two hardly saw one another and ever since Naruto became a Jounin, Naruto had been even more busy, now that he had a team, Naruto was almost always out of the village now. The two stopped at the old training spot Naruto and the rest of Team Seven used back in his Genin days. Jiraiya decided to speak first.

"So Naruto, what did you want to talk to me about?" asked the white haired man.

Naruto stared at the sky then replied, "When I went to the Land of Waves with Kakashi and my team, we ended up meeting with the Tatsumaki."

"You did?" asked Jiraiya.

"Yes, they're not as strong as the Akatsuki was, but they're strong. One of my students managed to kill one of them." Naruto replied.

"Do you know their plans? Did you pry them out of them?" asked Jiraiya.

"At the time, I didn't care. I only wanted the death of the one I fought because he killed Hiroshi's, one of my students, parents." Naruto replied.

Jiraiya sighed, "I thought you got passed the blind rage part."

"I did, this time, I don't know what came over me." Naruto said.

"Did you use that power?" Jiraiya asked in a serious tone.

"No, I managed to keep it at bay." Naruto answered.

"The one I fought, he said something to me. So I know the Fourth Hokage was the one to seal this fucking cursed fox inside me!" Naruto said with much venom.

Jiraiya eyes widned, _'Son of a bitch, he must have been a Konoha nin.'_ "What was his name?"

"He went by Totosai, but his real name was," Naruto hesitated for a minute as anger began to consume him, "His real name was Kurosaki Kami."

Jiraiya stood there stunned at the name. Naruto turned around when he said the name and saw Jiraiya stiffen up with tension.

"By the look of your expression, you must have known him, right?" asked Naruto.

Jiraiya sighed, "Yes I do. He was one of my students along with Minato."

Naruto still felt there's more to this and he had to know, for the sake of his sanity, he had to know.

"There's more you're not telling me, isn't there?" asked Naruto.

Jiraiya sighed; he did not want to tell the boy anything that might upset him. Jiraiya decided he wasn't going to tell him anything.

"I can't tell you," Jiraiya finally said, this made Naruto angry.

"What the hell do you mean you 'can't tell me'?" yelled Naruto. "I have a right to know god damn it!"

Jiraiya turned around and began to walk away; he was not going to be the one to tell him about Minato and Kami's past as well as Naruto's connection with the Fourth. He stopped to say one last thing to Naruto.

"If you truly want answers, you must seek out Kami and get him to tell you himself, since he's no longer a Konoha nin, he's not forbidden to tell you like I and the rest of the village is." Jiraiya said then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Son of a bitch!" yelled Naruto.

Naruto was angry, his own village banned everyone one from telling him about all of this. He felt like his own village was betraying him at the very moment. Thoughts poured into his head as he walked home. When he reached his apartment, he opened it and slammed it with great venom. Naruto found his room and laid on his bed staring at the ceiling.

'_Tomorrow I'll go see Tsunade-baachan to get permission to seek out Totosai.'_

* * *

Tsunade sat at her desk to begin her morning routine of sorting out all the paper work that had just come in. Sorting mission requests from D-Ranked to S-Ranked, this was the part of the job the Hokage hated the most. Shizune helped too as well as Iruka, but still, this was the part of the job Tsunade hated the most. When she first became the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade tried to get out of it all the time. When she couldn't, she tried to skimmed through it which involved living out vital details, where a C-Ranked would end up being a B- or A-Ranked mission. Now Tsunade read all the vital details, but she still hated this part of the job more than anything. Then the door burst open revealing Naruto. Well she hated paper work almost more than anything, almost. Tsunade then rubbed her temples and sighed. 

"What do you want Naruto?" Tsunade asked with annoyance in her voice.

"Tsunade-sama," Naruto began making Tsunade eyes widened, "I came with a request."

"Go on." Tsunade said.

"I want permission to track down Totosai and kill him." Naruto lied, _'The real reason is to get answers out of him and I just know how to do it.'_

Tsunade thought about it for a few moments than came to her decision.

"No," was all she had to say before the blonde erupted in rage.

"What? What the fuck do you mean 'no?' Naruto asked.

Tsunade sighed; she knew Naruto would get angry like this.

"We don't need you rushing in on the Tatsumaki, we have no idea what they're planning to do right now." Tsunade tried explaining, hoping Naruto would get the point.

"I have to find him and kill him, if I don't," Naruto looked the ground and paused then looked back up at Tsunade with sad eyes, "If I don't, then Hiroshi might end up like Sasuke."

What Naruto said was half true, he did want to kill Totosai so Hiroshi wouldn't turn out like Sasuke, but he wanted answers from him first. Naruto could not tell the Hokage that for she'd definitely deny him the request.

'_So that's why.'_ Tsunade thought as she heard Naruto's word. But still, she couldn't afford having Naruto charging into something that could be very dangerous. Tsunade knew Naruto could take care of himself; he was not the same idiot ninja he was back when he was a kid. Tsunade still couldn't risk it knowing the fact, the pretty much don't know anything about the Tatsumaki. They only thing that Konohagakure knew was the fact the Tatsumaki existed with S-Ranked missing-nins.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I have to deny you permission, until we know exactly what the Tatsumaki are up to, I'm not sending anyone to pursue them just yet. When the time comes we find out it's something bad, you'll be the first on my list to send after them." Tsunade said with a smile, hopefully Naruto would listen to reason.

Naruto growled, "Fine."

Naruto stomped out of the office and slammed the door, hard causing Shizune to flinch. Tsunade sighed and began to rub her temples again. _'Naruto is such a pain.'_

* * *

Naruto walked quickly back to his apartment, Naruto didn't really know why he was so pissed off at Tsunade, somehow he knew she'd deny him his request to pursue Totosai. Then it hit him, Naruto was mad at the fact he couldn't go after his student's parent's killer, he was mad because he just knew this village was hiding something from him, something very important that _he_ felt the right to know. 

Naruto reached his apartment and slumped onto the couch, he didn't know what to do. Even with being denied permission, he'd decided he'd sneak out of the village and hunt down Totosai himself but then it hit him, Naruto had no idea where Totosai would be now. Naruto then had an idea so he got up from his couch and went to his dresser. He opened the top drawer and took out a folder. It had all the pictures of the some information on the members of the Tatsumaki that Kakashi, Naruto and his team fought that night in the Land of Waves. Tsunade had given each a copy to Kakashi and Naruto so if they ever ran into any of them again, they'd be prepared. Naruto flipped through pages until he found the picture of Totosai and his information. Naruto took the picture off the paper clip that held the photograph to the man's sheets of information. He closed the folder and placed it back in his drawer and closed it. Naruto laid the photograph on the top of the dressed and bit his thumb until blood came out. Naruto did hand seals.

"Kuchiyose no Justu (Summoning Technique)!"

A toad appeared, it was red and had black spots over his body and wore a black robe, it was a mini version of Gamabunta.

"What?" the toad said and turned around to Naruto, "Oh Naruto, What can I do you for?"

"Gamakichi, I need you to do me a favor." Naruto said.

"Sure, what is it?" asked Gamakichi.

Naruto held up the picture of Totosai, "I want you to find where this man is hiding, when you do come and get me and take me there."

The toad took the picture, "I'll see what I can do, later."

Gamakichi jumped out of Naruto's window and decended down and hopped away to a destination unknown.

'_Sorry Tsunade-baachan, but I must do this.'_

* * *

Naruto laid in bed, it's been four days since he sent Gamakichi on a quest to find the whereabouts of Totosai. The moonlight entered his room as Naruto couldn't sleep. Naruto hadn't been able to sleep in the last few days, too many thoughts ran through his head and it was starting to piss him off. The sooner he gets Totosai to talk, the better. Naruto was also afraid what he might learn. Will it change how he views the village? Would it make him run away from what he's called home for twenty-five years? But Naruto did not care, he wanted to know. This village was hiding something and he'd get Totosai to tell him, one way or the other. Even if Naruto had to break every single bone in Totosai's body to do it. Naruto's thoughts were clear when he heard something slightly banging on his window. Naruto got up to find Gamakichi awaiting at the window. Naruto got up and opened the window to let the toad inside. Gamakichi hopped inside. 

"Did you find anything?" asked Naruto.

"Hai, Naruto. He and two others are in a secret base behind the waterfall in the Valley of the End." Gamakichi replied.

Naruto did not say anything and quickly got ready. He put on his normal clothes and then put on his Jounin vest. He clipped his Kunai Pouch onto his pants behind him on the right side and his Shuriken Holster on his right leg at his thigh.

"Alright Gamakichi, take me there." Naruto said.

"But I have one question, how are you going to get past the guards?" asked Gamakichi.

"Don't worry, it'll be a piece of cake." Naruto said, "I'll wait for you a few miles away from the village."

"What do you mean?" asked Gamakichi.

"I'm gonna use my Sumiyaka no Hikari no Jutsu (Speed of Light Technique)." Naruto replied.

"Oh a speed technique, okay I gotcha, well see you outside the village then." Gamakichi and Naruto jumped out of Naruto's window and began the walk to the main gate.

Naruto and Gamakichi made their way to the gate. When they reached within visible range but to where the guards could not see them Naruto stopped.

"Okay this is where I'm going to use my technique so the guards can't see me." Naruto said.

"Alright, I'll go on ahead then." Gamakichi said as he began to hop to the gate.

Naruto was about to go when he heard someone from behind call out his name.

"Naruto-sensei?" the voice said. Naruto turned around to see it was Hiroshi.

'_Shit.'_ Naruto thought, "Hiroshi, what are you doing out here so late?"

"I was taking a walk because I couldn't sleep." Hiroshi replied, "What about you?"

Naruto sighed, what could he say? He couldn't just tell him he was going after Totosai, to kill him. Naruto knew Hiroshi wanted to do it himself, but what if Hiroshi never gets the chance? Or worse, what if Hiroshi lost again and turns down a similar path Naruto's old teammate Sasuke took.

"You're going after him, aren't you?" Hiroshi said.

Somehow, someway this damned kid could read Naruto like a freaking open book and it scared Naruto every time the kid hit the nail on the head.

Naruto sighed, "Yes, I am, but for a different reason then you're thinking."

"You mean not to kill him?" asked Hiroshi.

Naruto nodded, "I talked to Ero-sennin a few days ago about something Totosai said to me, so I am going to find Totosai so I can get information out of him."

"Okay, but one more question." Hiroshi said.

"What's that?" asked Naruto.

"Who's Ero-sennin?" Hiroshi asked.

Naruto chuckled, "Jiraiya, the Toad Hermit, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, also the biggest pervert on the planet, always spying on women for his 'Icha Icha Paradise' book series."

"Oh okay, I've seen him before, I think, but Naruto-sensei, what if someone asks me where you are at?" Hiroshi asked.

"If you feel you must tell anyone, please wait until tomorrow, for my sake." Naruto said.

"Sure thing Naruto-sensei," Hiroshi replied.

"But I prefer you don't, because I could get into a lot of trouble if especially Tsunade-baachan found out I'm doing this." Naruto said.

Hiroshi nodded as Naruto completely disappeared in a blink of an eye.

* * *

Naruto appeared a few miles outside Konoha, away from sight of the main gate in almost a blink of an eye. All Naruto had to do was wait for Gamakichi to catch up which shouldn't be too long after Naruto stalled to talk to Hiroshi for a minute or two. Soon enough Gamakichi hopped by and Naruto jumped out of the tree next to Gamakichi. 

"Alright, you're here." Naruto said.

Gamakichi nodded.

"Let's go." Naruto said as he and Gamakichi began jumping through the trees to an all familiar destination to Naruto

* * *

**Just to clear something up so you don't start over analyzing things, Naruto is not going to become a missing-nin, just in case you get that impression, you probably won't but I'm saying this anyway so that you don't, but Naruto will get in trouble for this, his punishment won't be harsh, but Naruto is NOT going to become a missing-nin in this fic. Until next time, see ya.**


	27. Traveling: Fight Amongst the Trees!

**1). Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only my OCs and the content of this story.**

**2). This is the second chapter in the Quest For Answers arc.**

**3). Two chapters in one day, but it was expected because I do not have to work til October 1st since I am on vacation and as well as I pretty much have this whole arc planned out 'til the very end of it.**

* * *

**27. Traveling: Fight Amongst the Trees!**

He bounced branch after branch in the dead of night followed closely by a red black robed toad. The two were going as fast as they could to their destination. Moonlight filtered through the trees here and there so the forest wasn't pitch black but the man didn't care, he was going to get to his destination as fast as he could as he had no time to spare. The two continued on through the night for hours until the signs of dawn appeared across the eastern horizon. Colors of purple, yellow and orange looked as if they were painted on the sky. Before the two knew it the sun was hovering low in the eastern skyline. The man jumped to the ground followed by the toad.

"Gamakichi, we rest here for a bit," said the man.

"Hai, Naruto," replied Gamakichi.

Naruto sat underneath the shade of a nearby try breathing heavily. The two had been traveling all night to get to the Valley of the End. Gamakichi came back with water and Naruto drank it up quickly. Unbeknownst to them, a pair of eyes was watching the two.

"How much longer to we get to the Valley of the End?" asked Naruto, "I've only been there once."

"Just a couple of more hours, why?" replied Gamakichi with a question.

"Just wondering, I don't remember it taking this long to get to the Valley of the End." Naruto replied, "Then again, at the time I didn't really know I was going there to begin with."

Gamakichi nodded and rested a bit as well.

The pair of eyes disappeared into the leaves.

* * *

Tsunade had been up most of the night thinking about Naruto's request. Maybe she should have let him go after all? She knew that Sasuke's defection still haunted Naruto, somewhat and it had been 12 years ago. She shook the thought out of her head, she still stuck by her answer she gave Naruto. 

'_I know. I'll give Naruto and his team a mission so it will keep Naruto's mind off it.'_

Tsunade turned her head to her assistant, "Shizune, summon Naruto and his team for me."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," replied Shizune and left the office.

* * *

Gamakichi and Naruto and been resting for nearly twenty minutes already and Naruto got back up. 

"Alright let's continue." Naruto said before jumping back into the trees with Gamakichi following.

Gamakichi didn't know how he ended up being behind Naruto, he was supposed to be leading Naruto, but when Naruto asked if he was going the right way, Gamakichi would reply with a yes. If it was a no, he'd direct Naruto to the right direction. Luckily for Gamakichi, Naruto only got off course twice since their journey began.

The two kept hoping from tree to tree for the next hour. Naruto wanted to get their as fast as he could.

* * *

A boy walked through the waterfall into a darkened cave. He walked for about a couple of hundred feet before coming to a lighted door inside the cave. The boy knocked a couple of times before it opened and he walked in. A man wearing a blue cloak who had short snow white hair was the one to open the door for the boy. The man made a remark but the boy ignored it and continued to make his way to one of the men who was sitting down on a rocky surface. 

"Yes Sumi, what is it?" asked the cold voice.

"Totosai-sama, I have news for you," said Sumi.

"And what is this news, boy?" asked Totosai.

"Uzumaki Naruto is on his way here." Sumi said.

Totosai stiffened at the name, _'Son of a bitch; did Konoha manage to find out about this base and sent _him_ of all people after me?'_

Two of the men didn't know the name while the white haired man grew an angry expression on his face. The very man that defeated him so easily, TWICE, the white haired man wanted revenge so bad but his thoughts were cut when Totosai decided to speak again.

"Jishin, take care of the pest," Totosai said pointing to one of the cloaked men.

Jishin hid his face pretty good under the hood of his brown and white jacket. He took off his hood to reveal his face. His hair was the color of darkness itself, most of it hid his face, and it was the length of his whole face. Jishin moved his hair out of his face to reveal his light brown eyes and pale skin and he had a few scars on his face.

"As you wish, Totosai-sama," Jishin said as he began to walk towards the door.

"What?" yelled the white-haired man, "I want to take him on and get my revenge for what he did to me back in the Land of Waves!"

"Silence Yuki, if Uzumaki manages to get passed Jishin, then you'll be next to fight him." Totosai said with much authority.

Yuki did not say much, Yuki just growled to himself, _'Why_ he _put Totosai-teme in charge of us, I'll never know.'_

Jishin left the waterfall and proceeded to cut Naruto off way before he reached here.

Totosai turned to Sumi, "Follow Jishin and watch the two. If Naruto defeats him, return to me at once so I can be prepared."

"Hai, Totosai-sama," Sumi said bowing and left the base as well.

"Wait a minute, if Jishin loses, instead of trying to protect this place, we should just vacate," the other cloaked man said.

"Silence, _he_ told us to stand down here until he arrives." Totosai said.

* * *

Gamakichi and Naruto had been tree hopping for the last hour since they took their twenty minute break to catch their breaths and there was no stopping now, no turning back. That's until a kunai flew their way where Naruto narrowly dodged it. Naruto dodged it clumsily and fell out of the tree but managed to land on his feet but only to slide a few feet. Naruto looked up to see the black haired man with the blue cloak standing on the roadway. 

"I finally get to meet the Uzumaki Naruto that nearly killed Totosai-sama," the man said.

'_Shit, a member of the Tatsumaki. I guess somehow they found out we were coming.'_

"If you don't get out of my way, I'll kill you without hesitation." Naruto said with great venom.

"Oh no, I am so scared. I'm shaking out of my skin." Jishin said mockingly.

Naruto growled, he did not have time to bullshit around with this idiot. But if there was no other way, then Naruto would have to fight, thus he would have to do it quickly as possible.

"The name's Riku Jishin, and I'll be your last opponent you'll ever fight." Jishin said.

"I don't have time for you so I'll just end this quickly." Naruto said practically spitting anger at him.

"Yes, let's end this quickly with your death." Jishin said and began flashing through hand seals.

"Doton: Yabureme Tsuchi no Jutsu (Earth Release: Split Earth Technique)!"

The ground below Naruto began to shake violently knocking Naruto completely off his feet. Slowly but surely the ground began to crack and break apart. Soon the pieces of earth began to fall as the massive hole was created. The ground Naruto had been sitting on broke apart and fell into the whole. Jishin smirked and flashed through hand seals once more.

"Doton: Tsuchi Hitonomi no Jutsu (Earth Release: Earth Swallow Technique)!"

Once again the earth began to quake and the whole began to fill up with earth again. It took only a minute for the whole to be completely filled back up with rocks and dirt. Jishin began to laugh.

"That was quick, and here I thought that baka would have given me a hard time."

Jishin was about to walk off when he heard a voice from within the ground.

"Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Groundhog Decapitation Technique)!" was yelled and two hands grabbed Jishin's ankles and was pulled into the ground until only Jishin's head was visible and Naruto stood over him.

"I'll admit, you would have had me beat if I didn't know that technique." Naruto said with a slight smirk and then kicked Jishin in the face, hard and then took out a kunai, "Like I said, I wanted to end this quickly."

In a swift move, Naruto stabbed Jishin in the head, right at the temple with his kunai. Naruto was about to smirk in victory when Jishin turned to earth. _'Shit a Tsuchi Bushin (Earth Replication).'_

Naruto looked up, down and around until his ankles were caught. The hands pulled down Naruto with only his head sticking out of the ground and with Jishin standing overhead.

"Uh oh, looks like I know that technique too." Jishin said and pulled out a kunai and stabbed Naruto in the head but the Naruto he stabbed disappeared in a puff of smoke. _'Damn it, it was a Kage Bushin, but how?'_

Jishin quicky turned around to see more Kage Bushin's surrounding him. One punched him the face with a force that knocked him backwards off his feet.

"U," it chanted.

The three clones behind them slid and kicked Jishin up into the air and they chanted, "Za. Ma. Ki."

The real Naruto appeared above Jishin and slammed his foot into Jishin's face. The force of the blow sent Jishin straight into the ground head first with Naruto finishing the chant, "Naruto Rendan!"

Jishin got up slowly and shakily, "H-how did you escape from my first two techniques?"

Naruto smirked, "When you first threw you kunai, when I dodged, I made a Bushin and have it fall to the ground as if I dodged your kunai clumsily while I hid and waited for the right time to attack your sorry ass."

"I guess I have my work cut out for me then." Jishin said getting up off the ground.

Once Jishin was fully standing up he quickly gathered himself and began performing hand seals once again.

"Doton: Tsuchi Dagekinami (Earth Release: Earth Shockwave)!"

Naruto gathered chakra into his feet as the ground shook violently as a shockwave of dirt rocks and such speedily charged at Naruto. At the last second Naruto jumped as high as he could as the shockwave zipped by underneath him. Jishin smirked and pulled out something from his cloak. It was a wire full of kunai, Jishin pulled back his arm than swung the wire allowing the kunai to rip off the wire and they were heading straight for Naruto. Being in the air, Naruto could not dodge so with quick thinking grabbed a few Shuriken from his Shuriken Holster and threw them at the incoming kunai as hard as he could. Naruto managed to knock away about three of the five kunai, the other two he missed and one hit him in his collarbone while the other one hit his chest. Naruto screamed out in pain and landed on hard on the ground. Jishin smirked and began to walk over to Naruto. Naruto managed to get up on his knees, he pulled out the kunai that was lodged in his chest first, and as soon as he did he began to cough up blood while having his hand grasping the wound. Luckily for Naruto, the kunai hit his upper chest a good four inches above where his heart is but that didn't make the pain go away any quicker. Soon as Naruto gathered himself he managed to pull out the kunai lodged in his collarbone. Naruto winced in pain again as both his wounds bled, but the bleeding didn't last long as the wounds began to quickly heal. Jishin had reached Naruto and noticed the wounds were beginning to heal.

'_What the hell? His wounds I gave him are already healing.'_ Jishin thought in shock.

Jishin took out a kunai and was about to go in for the quick kill when Gamakichi jumped into Jishin's face causing Jishin to fall down with Gamakichi falling full force onto his head. If Gamakichi was any heavier, he probably would have crushed Jishin's head. The toad jumped off Jishin.

"You fucking toad!" yelled Jishin.

Jishin then looked up into the trees to see Naruto and a clone standing on a branch above him. Jishin tried to get up but realized he was pinned down.

"What the hell?" Jishin asked in confusion, then Gamakichi hovered over him.

"While you were too focused trying to get me off, Nartuo pinned you down with kunai so you can't move." Gamakichi said calmly, "Well let me get out of the way."

Gamakichi moved out of the way for Jishin to get full view of Naruto in the high branch above him once again. Naruto smirked as his chakra began swirling in the palm of his right hand; the clone began pumping chakra into Naruto's already formed ball of swirling charka.

"You bastard!" Jishin yelled as Naruto jumped off the branch with his palm held out.

"I've saved this one just for you, Fuuton: Rasengan (Wind Release: Rasengan)!"

Jishin's eyes widened and the Naruto slammed the Rasengan into Jishin's body. Dirt, rock and dust instantly flew into the air, if you were far away enough it would have sounded like a big explosion. After a few minutes, the cloud of dust settled, Naruto was standing over a massive crater with a bloody body at the bottom of the hole. Jishin was dead; the force of Naruto's Rasengan had killed the bastard. Gamakichi hopped out of hiding over the crater and saw Jishin's body, lying motionless inside the massive hole.

"Well that took care of him." Gamakichi said.

"Now that makes two dead." Naruto said bluntly.

"So you managed to kill a second one of these 'Tatsumaki' eh?" asked Gamakichi.

"Well one of my students killed one back in the Land of Waves." Naruto answered, "This is the first one to die by my hands."

"He's not going to get up anymore, he should continue on." Gamakichi said.

Naruto only nodded and the two turned to tree hopping once more.

* * *

It had been three hours since Totosai sent out Jishin to stop Naruto from advancing any further to their location and Sumi to watch. A couple of knocks where heard from the door and Yuki answered it revealing Sumi. 

"Where's Jishin?" asked Totosai.

"He's dead Totosai-sama, he was killed by Uzumaki." Sumi replied.

"Well that's a shame; Konoha has managed to kill two of us." Totosai said with no emotion about the groups dead comrades.

Yuki smirked, it was his turn to get a crack at Uzumaki and was waiting for Totosai to send him after the man.

"Yuki, go outside and wait for Uzumaki, it's your turn to deal with him." Totosai said pointing at the door.

"Hai, Totosai-sama," Yuki said with an evil smirk, finally it was his chance to get his revenge on the blonde. Yuki exited the base and walked out from behind the water fall to await for his opponent to arrive.

* * *

**A short battle between Naruto and Jishin, but like Naruto wanted it to end as quickly as possible. At first I wasn't going to kill off Jishin, but then decided I will, but later on the fic Jishin and Tsunami (Tsunami was the other member that Himawari killed back in the Rescue Konohamaru arc) will be replaced by two new members, you know them quite well too, but until next time, see ya!**


	28. Operation: Shinobi Retrieval!

**1). Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, just my character and the story.**

**2). This is the third chapter in the Quest For Answers arc. It is also a pretty short and mostly dialouge chapter, it's kind of a filler chapter really.**

* * *

**28. Operation: Shinobi Retrieval!**

Tsunade was waiting behind the desk were ninja teams would come to get their missions. To her left sat Iruka, to her right usually stood Shizune but she was not present. Tsunade's patience was running thin, where the hell was Shizune? Tsunade sent Shizune to gather up Naruto and his team almost an hour ago. Tsunade was about to get up and go look for the blonde idiot and his brats when Shizune finally walked into the room.

"Sorry Tsunade-sama, I had a hard time finding them." Shizune said with nervousness in her voice.

Tsunade sighed as Hiroshi, Shiro and Himawari walked into the office. Tsunade looked, but where was Naruto?

"Shizune, where's Naruto?" asked Tsunade.

"That's why I took so long, I can't find him anywhere." Shizune replied.

Tsunade looked at Naruto's students that stood before her. Shiro and Himawari remained calm while she noticed that Hiroshi had a nervous look on his face.

"You there," she said pointing at Hiroshi.

"Hai, Hokage-sama?" asked Hiroshi who was now very nervous.

"Do you have any idea where your sensei is?" Tsunade asked in a deadly tone.

Hiroshi hesitated for a bit, "N-no I don't."

Tsunade could tell the boy was lying right off the bat as soon as he hesitated to answer her question. Hell, it gave him away when he stiffened up with nervousness when she asked Shizune where Naruto was.

Hiroshi wanted her to stop asking questions about his sensei already. He didn't want to tell her, for Naruto's sake, but if the Hokage kept picking the question at him, he'd crack and tell her everything about last night. Hiroshi prayed she'd just drop the subject.

"You're lying; I can tell by the way you're acting." Tsunade began, "Where is your sensei?"

Hiroshi began to sweat, he did not want to tell her what but every time he looked up at Tsunade, she had a death glare that was constantly upon him.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you." Hiroshi said finally cracking under the pressure. "Last night, he, he…"

Hiroshi's voice got caught in his throat, he didn't want betray his sensei, but the great venom in Tsunade's voice with what she said next got through to him.

"Where the hell is he?" Tsunade yelled with the venom.

"Last night he left to track down Totosai." Hiroshi said covering his head as if he was going to get smacked upside the head or something to that extent.

Tsunade slammed her fist on the desk which made everyone in the room jump in fear.

"Why that little…He went against my word!" yelled Tsunade who was quite pissed off. She turned to Shizune, "Get me Hatake, now!"

"H-hai, Tsunade-sama," Shizune said obviously quite nervous and scared as she left the place.

"You two," Tsunade began pointing at Himawari and Shiro. "You're dismissed."

Himawari and Shiro turned and ran out of the room just to get away from the 'scary' Hokage. Tsunade turned her gaze to Hiroshi who was staring at the ground and scared of what Tsunade might or might not do.

"As for you, do you know where he was heading?" Tsunade asked.

"No, he did not tell me." Hiroshi replied.

"Why didn't you tell me about Naruto's departure as soon as he left?" the Hokage asked with more anger again.

"I didn't want to get Naruto-sensei in trouble." Hiroshi answered with sadness in his voice and holding his head down the ground.

Tsunade sighed and was about to say something when Kakashi along with Shizune walked into the room.

"Kakashi," was the only thing Tsunade said before the silver haired man spoke.

"Hai, Hokage-sama?" he asked.

"Seems like your ex-teammate decided to go against a decision I made regarding a request he made a few days ago." Tsunade said.

"What do you mean?" asked Kakashi.

"A few days ago Naruto came to me and asked to seek out Totosai." Tsunade explained.

"I guess he wasn't satisfied with leaving Totosai in a bloody mess." Kakashi said.

"Well I told him no, and Hiroshi just told me he left last night to find him." Tsunade finished.

Kakashi's eye widened, "But that's unlike Naruto."

"Yes, it's surprising. Anyways, getting to the point of why I called you here, you and are Hiroshi are to find him and bring him back straight to me!" Tsuande ended the sentence with anger.

Kakashi began to worry and decided to ask the dreadful question, "This kind of situation would call for Naruto to be marked as a missing-nin, have you?"

Tsunade shook her head, "No I am not, I know the baka would return, but I want him brought back before he does anything stupid and I want him brought back to me right away so I can punish him."

"Fair enough," Kakashi said turning to Hiroshi, "Meet me at the gate in ten minutes."

Hiroshi nodded and Tsunade decided to speak before Kakashi and Hiroshi left.

"One more thing, don't tell him about bring him back to me, he'll try to escape." Tsunade said.

Kakashi nodded and disappeared in a cloud of smoke as Hiroshi turned around and ran out of the office and get as far away as he could from the Hokage tower.

Ten minutes passed and Hiroshi was ready to go and was at the gate. From stories Naruto told him about Naruto's day with Kakashi, Naruto always complained about how late Kakashi was when they were to meet up with them. Hiroshi was surprised to find Kakashi waiting at the gate.

"You ready?" asked Kakashi.

"Hai, Kakashi-san," Hiroshi said with a nod.

The two began took to the trees and began their quest to find Naruto.

* * *

Breathing heavily, sweat dripping down his face as he sat under the tree, the man looked as he had been traveling non-stop for weeks and it was only the middle of the day. The man put his hand through his blonde hair taking out most of the sweat and began to drink water like if it was all he had left. The man began to cough as he stupidly drank to fast and ended up choking on it, wasting a good portion of it. The toad beside him shook his head at the man's stupidity. 

"Naruto, slow down, you're going to waste all the water if you're just going to choke on it," the toad said.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head out of embarrassment and chuckled nervously, "Gomen Gamakichi, I guess I was really thirsty."

"No worries, well we have been traveling non-stop since early this morning. It was about time for a break." Gamakichi said.

Naruto nodded and looked to the sky. Telling by the way the sun was positioned in the sky, it was about after noon. The two had been traveling non-stop since their little break at dawn. Much to Naruto's dismay, he wanted to be at the Valley of the End already.

"I never realized how far away this place actually is." Naruto said.

"Well you been there once, how could you not?" asked Gamakichi.

"Well that time I really wasn't paying attention to the distance, I had other things on my mind." Naruto replied.

* * *

Kakashi and Hiroshi continued to hop through the trees at top speed. Hiroshi was having a hard time keeping up with Kakashi. When Kakashi finally noticed Hiroshi was falling behind he slowed a bit to Hiroshi's speed and the two kept up that pace. To be honest with himself, Kakashi had no idea where Naruto was headed. If Naruto left a few days after Tsuande denied his request, it only meant Naruto found out where Totosai was hiding before leaving. Kakashi had to admit that was smart of Naruto if he done so since Naruto had a bad reputation of charging into things without properly thinking. 

"Kakashi-san, do you have any idea where we are going?" asked Hiroshi.

"Not really." Kakashi replied, "But I think Naruto knew where he was going."

"What do you mean?" asked Hiroshi.

"Well think about it, he left a last night as you told Tsunade, and Tsunade denied his request a couple of days ago."

It clicked.

"Oh ok, I get it." Hiroshi said.

* * *

Naruto and Gamakichi had been resting for a good hour now and Naruto thought it was time to hit the trail once again so they could be at the Valley of the End by at least late afternoon. The blonde and the toad took to the trees again and continued their journey. 

"Do you think they found out about your departure?" asked Gamakichi.

"I have a feeling they do, and if Tsunade found out too, she probably already sent Kakashi-sensei after me." Naruto said with a sigh.

"You know you really took a risk going against your Hokage like that, something like this could brand you as a missing-nin." Gamakichi said.

Naruto smirked, "If anything, I'm going to get a good yelling, beating and then probably a long suspension."

"It seems like you know her well." Gamakichi said.

"It may not show, but deep inside she cares about me deeply." Naruto said with great seriousness.

Naruto picked up the pace while Gamakichi was starting to struggle to keep up with the blonde.

'_I thought I was supposed to lead him, yet he's been leading me the entire way.'_

* * *

It already had been two hours since Kakashi and Hiroshi left to find Naruto. The two were now taking a break, mainly for Hiroshi to catch his breath. Kakashi, however really wasn't that tired. Stuff like this didn't really face the sliver haired Jounin. 

"Naruto should train you guys in stamina." Kakashi said looking at his former students own student.

"That was next on his agenda, but then this came up." Hiroshi said.

"You know, I've never seen anyone to care so much about their student's well being as Naruto does." Kakashi said, "Risking getting into major trouble for going against the Hokage's decision just to kill one man for the sake of his student."

Hiroshi smiled, "You make it seem like a bad thing, Kakashi-san."

"It's not; I'm just saying I've never seen anyone go so out of there way for people in all my life." Kakashi explained.

"Ever since I found out my parents were killed, he's been almost like a father to me now. After we got back from the Wave, he taught me the Kage Bushin just in case I ever went up against Kami again." Hiroshi said.

Kakashi did his famous eye smile, "Naruto is one unique being; he can make friends almost instantly. I truly believe he'll become Hokage, and when he does, he has to power to change our world for the better."

"What do you mean?" Hiroshi asked with great curiosity.

"He could very well unite the Five Great Shinobi Village." Kakashi said, "Which could end all possibilities of war."

"Well I one too believe he'll become Hokage." Hiroshi said with a smile.

Kakashi nodded, "Very well, are you rested enough?"

Hiroshi nodded and Kakashi signaled them to begin trekking through the forest once again. They took to the trees and began their journey to find Naruto once more.

* * *

Tsunade sat in her office sorting out paper work and drinking down a bottle of Sake. This turned out to be a more stressful day then planned. Shizune walked into the office and quickly narrowed her eyes when she noticed the bottle of alcohol on her desk. 

"Tsunade-sama, I thought we agreed, no Sake when you're…"

"I don't want to here it right now Shizune." Tsunade interrupted her. "Today's been too stressful so far."

"It's about Naruto-kun, isn't it?" asked Shizune.

"Of course, he's one big pain in the ass." Tsuande said getting angry. "I told the baka he couldn't go after Totosai or anyone in the Tatsumaki until we know exactly what doing."

Shizune smiled a bit, "I think you're more worried than mad at him going against your decision."

"No I am not worried, he can take care of himself." Tsunade said, "He disobeyed an order, if the council finds out about this you'll know what will happen."

"What they don't know won't hurt them." Shizune said reassuringly.

Tsunade again, "I guess you're right, but I am still going to beat the snot out of that brat!"

* * *

**Until next time, see ya.**


	29. Where the Past Meets the Present

**1). Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I only own my own characters I created for this fic and the fic itself.**

**2). Enjoy the fourth chapter in the Quest For Answers arc.**

* * *

**29. Where the Past Meets the Present**

Leap after leap among the trees of Naruto and Gamakichi's pace. Traveling for hours almost non stop. Would they ever get there? Naruto kept asking himself that question the whole time since dawn. Gamakichi was beginning to tire out, he had never really hopped this far this fast in a good while and it was slowly taking its toll. Thankfully light began to filter through the dense forest from the horizon in the direction the two were going. It could only mean one thing, a clearing was up ahead. A few more leaps through the trees and the two reached the clearing. Naruto jumped out of the tree onto the ground with Gamakichi following. Naruto walked calmly out of the dense forest to come across a huge lake. At the far end of the lake stood a huge cliff and a massive waterfall, on both sides of the water fall stood too very large statues of two men. This was it, this was the Valley of the End, after all those hours of intense traveling, Naruto reached his destination.

"So you say their base is behind the waterfall?" asked Naruto between large gasps of breath.

"Hai, I saw four of them walk behind it while I was out searching for them for you." Gamakichi replied.

Naruto took a good look at the place, all the memories of he and Sasuke's fight came rushing back. Naruto gave out a sad chuckle, "The past meets the present, I guess."

The memories were there, clear as day. The day where he and his best friend, no brother fought with Naruto trying desperately to bring Sasuke back, for Sakura's sake, for his sake so that his closest bond would not break. It was the day that Naruto failed, failed to a promise that he swore he'd keep, in the end, it was for nothing.

"Well we have reached the location and I am very tired, I'll be going now." Gamakichi said disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto continued to stare at the place. Memories still ran through as a rushing river. _'It hasn't changed since that day.'_

* * *

Yuki was sitting at the feet of one of the statues with his eyes closed. God he was bored as hell waiting for Naruto to arrive. He was becoming impatient, he wanted to get the blonde ninja back for his humiliation back in the Wave. He opened an eye for a second and scanned the area briefly, a blur of yellow, orange and black forced both Yuki's eyes opened to see Naruto running across the lake. Yuki quickly got to his feet and began running across the lake too to cut off Naruto. 

As Naruto continued to run, Naruto finally noticed the white haired man in a blue cloak running at him. Whatever the guy was trying, Naruto did not have time for it so he just continued to run at the man. When the two got close to each other, Naruto quickly slammed his elbow into Yuki's stomach getting a grunt and Yuki fell into the water and Naruto continued running without stopping.

Underwater, Yuki performed hand seals. Naruto had to stop running when a massive wave rose in front of Naruto. The wave came crashing down on Naruto forcing him under water as well. Naruto turned around to find Yuki swimming fast toward him. Naruto barely dodged him and managed to land a kick into Yuki's stomach and Naruto swam up to the surface. Naruto pulled himself to walk on the water once again but before Naruto could continue to the waterfall Yuki jumped out of the water before him.

'_I guess I have to deal with this bastard.'_ Naruto thought as he stared down Yuki.

"At last I can get my revenge on you for making me look like a baka back in the Wave." Yuki said.

"It's because you suck so bad, I don't even know how you're even in the Tatsumaki." Naruto taunted.

Yuki smirked, "This time it'll be different." Yuki then flashed through hand seals, "Fuuton: Hyouketsu Kaze no Kyouran (Wind Release: Freezing Wind of Fury)!"

Yuki opened his mouth and a blast of wind began blowing. The wind was freezing cold once the blast hit Naruto. Naruto jumped when he realized the water below him was starting to freeze up in a matter of seconds. When Naruto landed on the solidified lake, Naruto had a hard time getting a good grip on the slippery ice, even with chakra being focused at his feet. Yuki smirked.

"Now that you can't move very well and I have the lake frozen now I can use my jutsu."Yuki said.

'_Maybe this guy is stronger then he let on back in Wave.'_ Naruto thought trying to think of something, _'I don't know any fire jutsu, so I cannot melt the ice. Wait, I know, I'll just have to break it!'_

Yuki began performing hand seals again, "Aisu Kangoku (Ice Prison)!" [A/N: I don't know the Japanese word for "Ice Release" if you do let me know, thx

Naruto began jumping as pillars of ice began to arise from the frozen like. Naruto was desperately trying to get out being confined in a prison made of ice. Luck ran out for Naruto as the ice made contact with Naruto's right foot.

'_Damn it.'_ Naruto cursed himself, and the ice began to swallow Naruto. Naruto was trapped while Yuki was laughing.

"So much for Uzumaki, that was quite easy I must say." Yuki taunted, even though Naruto couldn't hear it being trapped in a block of ice.

Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in a dimly lit sewer. He walked over to the end of it to find what looked like two large doors of prison cell bars going from the top to the bottom. In the middle had what looked like a piece of people with writing on it with the word 'seal' on the top of the paper. Two giant slit eyes appeared in front of Naruto.

"**Well look at what we have here, you've finally come back once again,"** the demonic voice said.

"Shut up you bastard fox, I just need you to give me some of your chakra for a bit." Naruto replied in a dead serious tone.

"**Why the hell should I give you my power when you reject it every other time I ask you to take my power?"** Kyuubi asked.

"Just fucking give me your power for a bit, I don't know any fire jutsu's and it's the only way to get me out of this Ice Prison." Naruto said. "Or do you want to die with me?"

"**I knew you'd always come back for my…"** Kyuubi was interrupted.

"Just lend me your chakra." Naruto said as he disappeared back to the real world.

Yuki was standing by the pillar of ice that imprisoned Naruto and contemplated on killing him now, or let the ice suffocate him slowly. Yuki decided to let Naruto succumb to the latter and began to walk back to the waterfall when suddenly he sensed a fowl chakra in the air.

"What the hell is that?" Yuki said turning around seeing the pillar of ice was turning red then his eyes widened.

The pillar of ice broke to pieces as Naruto landed on the ice. Red chakra surrounded Naruto, though he didn't have the crimson slit eyes and claws, but the chakra made Naruto just a bit stronger and faster. Naruto charged at Yuki at high speed.

"H-he's a…" Yuki didn't get to finish the sentence when he met a barrage of kicks and punches. Naruto did one final punch that sent Yuki far across the lake, Yuki skidded a bit then he slipped underwater.

Yuki swam up to the surface, he looked up to see five Naruto's in the air. All five slammed their fists in Yuki's head. The force of the punches made Yuki fly through the water until he hit the bottom. Naruto stood thinking Yuki had been knocked unconscious and began to walk towards the waterfall to confront Totosai. Naruto stopped when he heard a rumble, Naruto turned around to see a tidal wave of ice heading straight for him.

Naruto couldn't dodge the massive wall of ice and knew he couldn't counter it with any of his jutsu's. Naruto thought about his speed jutsu, but he wanted to save that until he really needed to use it. The tidal wave forced Naruto to swim underwater, but it was a last minute resort and he wasn't thinking. The wave of ice passed over the surface and Naruto tried to resurface to only find the tidal wave of ice ended up freezing over the entire surface of the lake.

'_Damn it, going underwater was a very bad idea, I should of just used the Sumiyaka no Hikari no Jutsu (Speed of Light Technique).'_

Naruto soon began to need air as Naruto desperately tried to the surface.

Yuki looked over the entire lake, his Aisu Tsunami (Ice Tidal Wave) managed to freeze the entire lake and to his knowledge, Naruto must have been trapped underwater.

"You must be underwater Uzumaki, and that was a bad move." Yuki said with a smirk.

Naruto struggled, he was suffocating and close to losing his consciousness. Naruto quickly made a Kage Bushin. Naruto began to swirl chakra into his hand. The swirling of his chakra was also start to create a whirl pool. Naruto's bushin quickly began pumping another Naruto's wind natured chakra into the swirling ball of chakra.

'_Fuuton: Rasengan (Wind Release: Rasengan).' _Naruto screamed in his head as he slammed his hand on the ice above him.

Yuki watched and waited to see if Naruto managed to escape. A few feet away, there was ice that began to crack and then it broke where a tornado of water came surging out of the hole. Naruto was right above it. The water fell as Naruto came back down to the ice covered lake.

"Damn it, he managed to escape!" Yuki said to himself watching Naruto in the air.

Naruto created another Kage Bushin and the two put their hand out and blue swirling chakra began to form. The ball got bigger and bigger until both of the Naruto's was holding it.

Yuki looked at it, "What the hell is doing?"

Naruto and the Kage Bushin put their hand out and headed for the frozen lake. _'Hopefully the force of this breaks all the ice and forces this bastard to the ground where I'll use my speed to defeat him.'_

The Naruto's inched ever so close to the ice. Soon, Naruto and his Bushin slammed the swirling charka into the frozen lake, "Odama Rasengan!"

The force of the attack sent a shockwave through the frozen ice, breaking it all apart. It knocked Yuki off his feet as he slid across the water onto dry land.

Naruto recovered to the surface and saw Yuki was lying on the shore, "Sumiyaka no Hikari no Jutsu (Speed of Light Technique)!"

In a blink of an eye, Naruto was gone and appeared by Yuki. Yuki got up only for a foot to connect to his back, slamming him back down into the ground. Naruto pulled out a kunai with his right hand while Naruto used his left hand to pull on Yuki's hair to force his head up a bit. Naruto placed his kunai at Yuki's neck.

"Now we can do this the easy way where you stay alive, or we can do this the hard way where you die. Which is it?" Naruto said in a threatening tone.

Yuki smirked as he had a kunai hidden underneath him, "Niether," he said as he took the kunai and stabbed Naruto, but at his angle, he missed Naruto's knee which Yuki was trying to aim for, but instead stabbed Naruto just below it. Naruto screamed in a pain as he fell over onto his ass. Yuki quickly got up and glared at Naruto.

"I'm going to humiliate you just like you did me." Yuki said.

Yuki walked over to Naruto with another kunai in hand, but what Yuki forgot was Naruto still had the kunai in his hand he had at Yuki's neck before Yuki stabbed Naruto in the leg. Naruto waited for the right moment. Once Yuki was close enough, Naruto did what Yuki was planning on doing but missed, Naruto used his Kunai to stab Yuki in the knee, blood came rushing out as Yuki fell to the ground, unable to move. Naruto pulled the kunai that Yuki stabbed him with out and stood up. Naruto winced when he stepped on his left leg, the leg Yuki stabbed. Yuki's knee continued to bleed as Naruto stood creating about five bushins.

"Now that you're immobilized, I'm going to defeat you the same exact way I did back in Wave when you had Konohamaru." Naruto said.

Usually the first of the bushins would punch the opponent, but since Yuki was on one knee unable to move, the first clone kicked Yuki in the stomach making him fall backwards.

"U."

The three clones behind him then kicked Yuki in the back in an upwards motion, causing Yuki to fly up into the air.

"Zu."

"Ma."

"Ki."

As Yuki flew upwards, the real Naruto appeared above him. Naruto slammed his foot into Yuki's head in a downwards motion, causing Yuki to fall back to the ground.

"Naruto Rendan!"

"Not again." Yuki said before his face plummeted into the ground with a hard force.

The force made Yuki's head bounce up a bit where blood flew out of his mouth and nose. Yuki's face met the ground again but it didn't hit as hard. Yuki laid motionless, Naruto took out his kunai, if Yuki was defeated again, he'd surely be a pest for Naruto, so Naruto decided to kill the bastard to save Yuki from more humiliation and so that he won't bother Naruto again, but he stopped when Sumi and another member of the Tatsumaki appeared and grabbed Yuki's body and quickly made their way back to the waterfall. Naruto gave chase but stopped when he saw his target standing before him.

"Y-you!" Naruto said with great venom.

"Nice to see you again too, Uzumaki," Totosai said.

Naruto's fist clenched but right now, Naruto did not want to fight, not yet, not until Naruto got Totosai to talk. After Naruto was satisfied with anything Totosai had to say, then he'd kill Totosai.

"I see you managed to defeat Yuki three times already." Totosai said not really caring about his comrade. "Though I am surprised you found me, so where's the others?"

"There are no others, I came alone, on my own free will." Naruto answered.

"That really wasn't wise Uzumaki." Totosai said.

As irritating as Totosai's attitude was, Naruto had to get him to talk first before going in blindly and trying to kill the bastard. First the he'd get the truth then he'd get the kill.

"Anyways, what is the pleasure of seeing you again?" asked Totosai.

* * *

Kakashi and Hiroshi were drinking up by a stream they had come across. Hiroshi tired out again so Kakashi decided for the two to take a little longer break before heading out. Hiroshi rested under a tree while Kakashi scanned the perimeter to see if there was any trace of Naruto's trail. Kakashi came across some large rocks and found a couple of Ramen cups and what looked like an old camp fire. Kakashi picked up the Ramen cups and stared at the old camp fire. 

'_These Ramen cups are from last night and this old camp fire hasn't been her too long, I think we're going in the right direction after all.'_ Kakashi thought and headed back to where he had left Hiroshi to left.

Kakashi returned to find Hiroshi fast asleep underneath a large tree. Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, "Was I gone that long?"

Kakashi decided to wake up Hiroshi. He shook Hiroshi a bit but all Hiroshi did was turn over. The little brat was a stubborn one that's for sure. Kakashi got some water and threw it onto Hiroshi face and Hiroshi quickly got up.

"W-what the hell?" Hiroshi yelled out in surprise.

"Gomen Hiroshi, but I had to wake up. I found Naruto's trail." Kakashi said.

Hiroshi growled, "Well you didn't have the throw water on me."

"Gomen, I tried everything else but nothing worked." Kakashi lied. "Anyways, I found Naruto's trail, we've been going the right way from the start."

"Good, we'll find Naruto-sensei for sure then!" Hiroshi said with joy as he got up.

Kakashi and Hiroshi took to the trees again and headed in the direction they believed Naruto headed.

* * *

**Another short battle, but Naruto has no time to play around, unfortunately the next chapter will focus around Kakashi and Hiroshi again as they encounter Sumi and the other member of the Tatsumaki so the chapter with the 'talk' with Totosai will come after next chapter so until then, see ya.**


	30. The Search Becomes Frantic!

**1.) Disclaimer: (I'm really tired of typing this out but it must be done) I do not own Naruto or its characters, I only own this story and my OC's.**

**2.) This is the fifth chapter in the Quest For Answers arc.**

* * *

**30. The Search Becomes Frantic!**

Kakashi and Hiroshi were high-tailing it through the trees. Kakashi began to look around and noticed the surroundings were oddly familiar.

'_I feel like I've seen this place before.'_ He thought as he continued to look around.

Hiroshi continued forward and didn't notice Kakashi had slowed down to survey the area. Hiroshi kept looking ahead with only one thing in mind, find Naruto and help him kill Kami. Kakashi caught up with Hiroshi without him even noticing anything.

'_He didn't even notice I slowed down and caught up with him again, is Naruto teaching his students anything?'_

As the Jounin and the Genin continued their trek, Hiroshi noticed a huge hole in the ground up ahead. Kakashi didn't seem to notice it.

"Hey Kakashi-san, look over there," he said pointing to the ground up ahead.

Kakashi just nodded and jumped to the road below with Hiroshi following. They walked up to the massive hole to find a body inside wearing a severely shredded up blue cloak.

"This was definitely the work of Naruto's Odama Rasengan." Kakashi said.

"So we are going in the right direction then," the boy next to Kakashi said.

Kakashi took a look around the area again, the feeling of knowing this place washed over Kakashi again and finally it clicked.

"I know where Naruto's is at," Kakashi said.

"And where's that?" asked Hiroshi.

"He went to the Valley of the End." Kakashi answered.

"I never heard of it." Hiroshi admitted.

"It was the place where Naruto and Sasuke had their final fight," Kakashi said seeing the images of a seriously injured Naruto after he had arrived too late in his head.

Hiroshi could see Kakashi had memories swimming through him by the look in his eye.

"Come on Kakashi-san, we should get going." Hiroshi said.

Kakashi was snapped out of his daze, "Yes, if we hurry, we can make it by nightfall."

Kakashi and Hiroshi took to the trees for what they hoped as the last time and headed off in the direction toward the Valley of the End.

* * *

Two figures sped through trees like cheetahs after their prey. One of the figures was of a boy with the other was of a man's. There seemed to be tension coming off the man and directed at the boy who was traveling with him. 

"I don't know why he sent you with me, you're mainly a spy," said the man.

"Totosai-sama has a reasons, so you should trust them or you'll know what would happen if _he_ found out you went against Totosai-sama's orders, Burizado-sempai." replied the boy.

The man growled, "Stupid orders."

**Flashback:**

_Totosai sat in quiet as Burizado grew impatient. Totosai could see the expression written all over Burizado's face and he knew the man was about to say something._

"_What the hell is taking _him_ so long?" Burizado asked particularly no one._

"_Burizado, shut up." Totosai said in an authoritative tone._

"_We've been here for almost a week already damn it!" Burizado said._

"_Well, _he_ is at our main base, it's far from the Fire Country, so be patient.'_ _Totosai said trying to get the annoying pest of a comrade to shut up._

_Sumi then entered their hideout, much to the relief to Totosai because it seemed to keep Burizado quiet, as if he wanted to hear news._

"_Totosai-sama, it appears Yuki is about to lose his battle with the Uzumaki." Sumi said._

_Totosai sighed, "Sumi, Burizado, I want you to go out and see if anyone's pursuing Uzumaki, if you find them, stop them and kill them, I'll take care of Uzumaki myself."_

"_Hai, Totosai-sama," Sumi and Burizado said in unison._

_The two exited the hideout and made their way to the forest undetected by Naruto and Yuki who was just about to take a final hit._

**End of Flashback.**

While Burizado was remembering the stupid order Totosai had given the two, he failed to notice Sumi had stopped until his voice called out to him.

"Burizado-sempai, stop," the young boy said.

"What? Why?" asked Burizado.

"I think I found our targets." Sumi said pointing ahead at the other side of the roadway seeing Kakashi and Hiroshi hopping from tree to tree.

Burizado gave an evil chuckle, "Very well then, let's take them out. I'll take the silver haired freak while you take the kid."

"Hai, Burizado-sempai," said the boy.

"And for the record, just call me Burizado, alright?"

Sumi said nothing and the two headed for their targets.

* * *

Kakashi and Hiroshi were going full speed, then a strange sensation came over Kakashi and he stopped singling Hiroshi to stop and he did so. 

"What's up, Kakashi-san?" asked Hiroshi.

"I think we've been spotted." Kakashi said. Then the two heard a voice from a branch above them.

"You're right, you have been spotted," the voice called out.

Kakashi and Hiroshi looked up to find a man in a blue cloak as well as a boy who Hiroshi and Kakashi immediately recognized.

"It's you again," Sumi called out to Hiroshi. Burizado looked at the kid.

"So you've meet this one before?" Burizado asked pointing at Hiroshi.

"Yes, we fought back in the Wave, I failed to beat him though," Sumi began, "But I don't plan on losing this time."

Burizado and Sumi jumped to the branches ahead of Kakashi and Hiroshi but at the same level they were at. Burizado finally recognized the silver-haired man.

"So, looks like my opponent is the infamous Copy-Nin, Hatake Kakashi from Konohagakure," Burizado said.

"Hmm, Burizado, the Blizzard Creator of Kirigakure," Kakashi stated.

"I see my reputation has even found its way to Konoha, now that's interesting," Burizado said with pride.

"Yes, because you've terrorized many smaller nations by turning them into winter wastelands." Kakashi said.

Burizado chuckled, "I only did that a couple of times before I ended up in the Tatsumaki."

"I'll make this quick," Kakashi said as he lifted up his forehead protector that was covering his left eye. He then opened his eye to reveal its blood-red color and the three black tomoe's.

"I guess that's what you use to copy people's jutsu, am I correct?" asked Burizado.

'_At least he doesn't know what it's called.'_ Kakashi thought, "Maybe."

"Very well then, shall we begin?" asked Burizado but before he knew it, Kakashi was on him delivering a strong kick to Burizado's rib cage causing him to fall to the ground below with Kakashi hot on his trail.

Sumi looked up from the scene Kakashi and Burizado started and stared down Hiroshi.

"Looks like it's you and me, Hiroshi-kun," Sumi said.

Hiroshi clenched his fists, "Yes and just like last time I'll beat you."

"We'll see how long you last, I'm only here until either Burizado's defeated or kills Kakashi," said Sumi as he quickly took out a kunai and jumped at Hiroshi.

Hiroshi responded by quickly taking out a kunai of his own to counter Sumi's. The two kunai clanked together and Hiroshi delivered a punch to Sumi's face which caused Sumi to fly back a bit. Hiroshi charged at him and threw a few Shuriken at him. Sumi still had his kunai in hand and batted the Shuriken away and quickly got up. Hiroshi landed on the same branch Sumi was on. The two began a fierce battle of strictly Taijutsu, punches and kicks were going everywhere, the two managed to blow each other's attacks. Finally Hiroshi kneed Sumi in the gut, Sumi wrenched over in pain while Hiroshi kneed Sumi in the face. The force knocked him back into the trunk of the tree. Hiroshi began performing hand seals.

"Doton: Doryudan (Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bomb)!"

What Hiroshi forget was that he and Sumi were in trees and thought he had to be on the ground for the jutsu to work so Hiroshi was about to hit Sumi to the ground when a large head of a dragon made of earth rose from the tree branch, Hiroshi jumped out of the way. The dragon opened its mouth and shot out projectiles made of mud at Sumi. Sumi's eyes opened to see the attack coming and struggled to get up, but it was enough as the balls of mud hit their mark causing the trunk behind him to break. Sumi was hit in the stomach with one last mud projectile and the force of the hit caused Sumi to fall out of the tree and hit the ground below in between Kakashi and Burizado who just got done with a Taijutsu battle similar to the one Hiroshi and Sumi had just a few minutes earlier.

"Damn it Sumi, get out of the way!" Burizado yelled.

Sumi slowly rose to his feet. He was feeling dizzy from hitting his head too many times already. Sumi looked up to see Hiroshi jump out of the trees and perform one hand seal.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu (Shadow Replication Technique)!" Hiroshi yelled.

Five replications of Hiroshi appeared in mid air and Sumi's eyes widened, _'He didn't know that last time we battled.'_

The first clone landed on the ground and quickly punched Sumi in the face; he was forced backwards when another replication of Hiroshi caught Sumi. The replication spun Sumi around a couple of times and threw him up into the air diagonally. Sumi was then met with another replication, this one caught him and then punched him the face. Sumi flew backwards again only to meet another replication that slammed his fist down in Sumi's face. Sumi began free falling to the ground, just as he was about to hit the ground Hiroshi's fifth replication hit punched him the stomach, he fell to the ground and slid a few feet and was picked up by his cloak by Hiroshi.

"I was a bit off on this last part, but let me finish off my own attack I call the 'Kuorsaki Hiroshi Rendan of Pain' and then Hiroshi kneed Sumi in the gut once again but Hiroshi placed chakra into the hit so Sumi was sent flying into the forest on the other side of the roadway and Hiroshi went after him.

* * *

"Now that the children are done playing, you and I should continue this." Burizado said. 

'_I have to end this quickly.'_ Kakashi thought.

"You're right, that way I can end this little charade early." Kakashi said.

Burizado slightly chuckled, "Well see about that."

Burizado charged at Kakashi and took out a kunai and several Shuriken and threw them at Kakashi and then did a hand seal.

"I'd like to thank the Konoha-nin I called for letting me steal this technique from him, Shuriken Kage Bushin no Jutsu (Shuriken Shadow Replication Technique)!" Burizado said as the kunai and three Shuriken became a massive cloud of kunai and Shuriken.

'_Shit.'_ Kakashi said as he copied the jutsu and immediately dodged it.

Kakashi took out his own Shuriken and threw it at Burizado, "Shuriken Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

"What?" Burizado said.

"I didn't know the technique, but thanks to you know I do." Kakashi said with the smirk as his own cloud of Shuriken headed for Burizado.

Burizado did one hand seal and sucked in a large amount of air, "Kakushigoto Jutsu: Gyouketsu Kuuki no Burizado(Secret Art: Freezing Air of the Blizzard)!"

Burizado exhaled with massive cold and freezing air, violent winds of a blizzard is a better way to have described it as the air hit all the Shuriken and kunai. The fake ones were dispersed while the real kunai and Shuriken froze in place and fell to the ground.

Kakashi stared blankly for a minute, _'Damn it, it must be a Kekkei Genkai, my Sharingan can't copy it.'_

"I see you enjoyed my display of my Kekkei Genkai," Burizado said with a smirk.

'_I knew it.'_ Kakashi thought trying to think of something to do next.

Burizado went began to go through hand seals as Kakashi stared and quickly saw what jutsu was going to use and began doing the same hand seals.

'_He's copying my hand seals, he's definitely living up to his reputation.'_ Burizado thought as he watched Kakashi go through the same hand seals.

"Suiton: Bakusui Shōha (Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave)!" the two shouted in unsion.

A jetstream of water come out of both their mouths completely covering the area with water.

Hiroshi and Sumi were in another brawl of Taijutsu when the water came rushing around them.

"What the hell?" Hiroshi asked to no one in particular when he saw the water was reaching ankle deep.

"Looks like Burizado-sempai used his Bakusui Shooha jutsu." Sumi said in a calm voice.

The two kids jumped into the trees and continued their Taijutsu battle.

"Now the field is covered with water, I have the advantage," Burizado said.

Kakashi went through seals, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!"

A massive fireball streamed out of Kakashi's mouth as he targeted the water trying to quickly turn it all to steam.

'_So he's trying to evaporate all our water.'_ Burizado thought as heinhaled deeply and he did one hand seal, "Kakushigoto Jutsu: Gyouketsu Kuuki no Burizado (Secret Art: Freezing Wind of the Blizzard)!"

Burizado exhaled and the bitter cold, blizzard strength wind roared out of Burizado's mouth quickly freezing over all the water in their battlefield.

"I wasn't going to let you turn all my water into vapors," Burizado said in some sort of creepy mock tone.

Burizado took out a kunai and literally skated across the manmade frozen lake toward Kakashi. He held his ground trying not to slip on the frozen surface below him as Burizado reached Kakashi and slashed his shoulder with the kunai, but before Burizado could do more damage Kakashi gathered chakra at his feet and jumped high into the air and flashed through seals stopping at the sign of the tiger.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!"

The ball of fire flew toward the ice. Burizado's eyes widened and barely got out of the way before the fire hit the ice, Kakashi didn't led up there and continued the attack. The ice quickly melted away and turned into water once more and Kakashi continued going and steam began to form and enclose the area. Finally all the water in the area had turned into steam.

"Damn it, I cannot see anything," Burizado said looking around.

Kakashi stood where he was and took out a scroll from one of the pockets on his Jounin vest. He held in his left hand while he took some blood from his small wound on his shoulder, Kakashi then opened the scroll and smeared the blood down most of the length of the scroll and began twirling around his body. Kakashi then quickly rolled back the scroll and flashed through hand seals.

"Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu (Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique)!" Kakashi yelled and slammed his palms along with the scroll to the ground. Writing detached itself from the scroll and into the ground.

Burizado tried to see through the thick steam but it was no use, so he had to be careful if Kakashi decided to take the advantage of the situation, but unbeknownst to him, Kakashi already had. Soon the ground around Burizado began to shake as he heard growling.

"What the hell is that?" Burizado asked basically the air.

The ground cracked open as several ninja hounds bit down on his ankles, arms and neck to keep him in place. Burizado heard a faint laughter.

"Gotcha," was all he heard the voice.

Nearby Kakashi flashed through seals and held out his right palm. Visible chakra began to form in a ball in his hands as it took on an electric form.

Burizado heard the crackling of electricity nearby, "What the hell is going on?" he yelled.

"You're about to meet one of my own moves," Kakashi said from the distance and began charging at exactly where Burizado was.

Before Burizado knew it, Kakashi was right in front of him, shoving his arm into Burizado's chest.

"Raikiri (Lightning Blade)!" yelled Kakashi as his arm ripped through Burizado's chest.

Burizado screamed horrifically as blood rushed out of the hole Kakashi placed in Burizado's chest. Kakashi hit the heart killing him soon after his scream of pain. Kakashi removed his arm that was now drenched in blood and the lifeless body of Burizado just fell to the ground as a pool of blood began to form around the general area of the wound Kakashi had made.

* * *

Hiroshi and Sumi were breathing hard. The two have been going at it in an only Taijustu brawl for the last twenty minutes after Sumi recovered from the massive blow of Hiroshi's replication attack. 

'_Damn it, now all the water's gone I can't use my water jutsu.'_ Sumi thought.

While Sumi was deep in thought, Hiroshi had a replication sneak up behind him and stab the boy with a kunai. That brought him out of his thoughts and screamed in pain as the clone took out the kunai from the bleeding wound in Sumi's upper back just below the shoulder and the replication kicked him forward and Sumi fell to his knees. Sumi was knocked down further when another clone stomped on him making Sumi loses his balance from his arms and was now lying on the ground on his stomach.

"There's no water, so you can't use your water jutsu, and I have you pinned so just get up because I really don't have time for this." Hiroshi said.

Sumi was about to get up when the two of them heard a loud, horrifying scream coming from the direction the two had left Kakashi and Burizado fighting.

Sumi's head quickly came up, "B-Burizado-sempai!"

Hiroshi smirked, "By the sounds of that scream, I think Burizado-teme just got defeated."

Somehow, someway Sumi managed to get out of Hiroshi's replication's grip, kicked one and punched the other to disperse them and quickly ran into the direction he had heard the painful scream.

"Get back here you little shit!" yelled Hiroshi as he began to pursuit.

Sumi jumped through the trees as fast as he could, they were pretty far into the forest as the he and Hiroshi continued to through punches after punches, kicks after kicks. Dodging each others' attack was the reason they got so far into the forest. Soon the roadway came into view and Sumi jumped down to see Kakashi standing over a Burizado's lifeless body in a pool of his own blood. Sumi looked horrified, this was the first time he had seen a comrade, though he witnessed the deaths of Tsunami and Jishin's death, this one was just too much.

"Burizado-sempai!" he yelled.

Burizado may had been mean to Sumi often, but he was the closest thing Sumi had to a brother since being an orphan. Burizado was usually the one to look after Sumi the most, and Sumi knew Burizado cared for him too, though he would never admit it.

A few moments later Hiroshi arrived to and saw the gruesome scene before him, but his focus returned to Sumi.

'_I have to get back to Totosai-sama right away.'_ Sumi thought as he turned around to see Hiroshi.

"And where do you think you're going?" Hiroshi said as he punched Sumi in the face.

Sumi rolled over and stopped short of the pool of blood that was Burizado's, he got up, _'I don't have time to fool around now,'_ Sumi thought as he made a hand seal.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" he shouted as five Sumi replications appeared.

The five replications quickly made an assault on Hiroshi, destracting him from the real Sumi as he took to the trees and escaped. Hiroshi made quick work in dispersing the five Sumi replications and turned back to the direction Sumi had escaped in.

"Damn it, he got away!" Hiroshi yelled but turned to Kakashi was just standing there, "Why'd you let him get away, Kakashi-san?"

"He didn't want to fight, and by the looks of it, he doesn't want to kill either." Kakashi replied.

Hiroshi let the words sink in, this time when the two fought, all they really did was a Taijutsu match, and when Kakashi and Burizado covered the radius with water, Sumi didn't use it to his advantage to use his water jutsu's, but then again, Hiroshi kept him busy with his fierce Taijutsu.

"I guess you're right," Hiroshi said, "But what about him?" he asked pointing at the dead body.

"Leave it, scum like that don't deserve a proper burial." Kakashi replied, "Come on, we need to get a move on. This battle already held ups back an hour."

Hiroshi nodded and the two took to the trees again in their hopes to find Naruto still alive.

* * *

**Burizado is actually spelt Buriza-do, if I mentioned his name in previous chapters, I probably did it that way but I decided to combine the two to Burizado since it was the character's name and then I killed him off. Well that's three members down, but later on in the fic when Tatsumaki's next phase in their plan goes into effect, the three dead ones will have been replaced as well as two new editions. There's a total of 10 members, like the Akatsuki, you now know of 8, three have been killed and one unnamed one everyone else calls "he" so far and two unnamed members that won't appear until later on. Another note, I know I didn't put to much emphasis on Hiroshi and Sumi's battle, like I mentioned in the story, it was mainly just Taijutsu, kicks and punches. You pretty much get the hint Sumi's just there to consume time, he didn't really want to fight nor kill Hiroshi this time around anyway. Last thing, this was the longest chapter I've had so for, yay! Well anyways, until next time, see ya.**


	31. Revelations of the Past

**1). Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**2). Another dialouge filled chapter which is the sixth chapter in the Quest For Answers arc.**

* * *

**31. Revelations of the Past**

Two figures dashed off into the forest while Naruto and Totosai stared each other down. Naruto's stare was of rage and disgust while Totosai's was more of an amused look. Totosai was beginning to get fed up with Naruto's hesitation towards the question he just asked a few minutes ago so he decided to ask again.

"What's the honor of your presence?"

Naruto didn't answer and just stared gathering his thoughts. How was he going to approach this? First of all Naruto's anger was beginning to get the best of him. The blonde blinked a couple of times as his blue eyes turned blood-red and his pupils turned into slits, just like a fox's. His whisker marks on his face began to darken and widened, his nails grew out into a claw-like fashion and his canine teeth grew longer. Totosai noticed Naruto's sudden change.

'_Shit, this Jinchuuriki is changing.'_

Naruto was trying to calm himself down; he did not want the Kyuubi to take over. Naruto just wanted his answers. After a few minutes Naruto calmed and blinked a few times and his eyes turned back to the normal blue, while his other features turned back to normal as well.

Totosai just stared, _'He managed to calm himself down, but I'm tired of him avoiding my question.'_ "What the hell do you want?"

Naruto looked up, "Answers."

"You want answers? Answer to what?" asked the confused blue cloaked man.

"Ero-sennin told me you were on his genin team." Naruto stated.

"Ero-sennin? Like I'm supposed to know that is?"

"Jiraiya," was all Naruto had to say to get some sort of reaction out of Totosai.

"Jiraiya-sensei, eh?" the Tatsumaki member began, "What exactly did he tell you?"

"Only that you were on the same team as Namikaze Minato." Naruto answered.

Totosai was silenced. Why the hell was Naruto here to talk about his old teammate? Did the blonde really come all this way out here just to talk about the past?

Totosai then began to laugh, "Did you really come all the way out here just to talk about my days as a Konoha Ninja?"

"No, I came to get answers from you. Tsunade-baachan and Ero-sennin are hiding something from me and won't tell me. Even Ero-sennin told me if I wanted to know, come look for you since you're not under the law to not tell me," the blonde answered.

"Why do you think I'd know?" asked the semi-bewildered Totosai.

"Because, back in the Wave, when we fought, you held back," stated Naruto.

Totosai's eyes widened, he knew? This nuisance was more observant then he let on. Totosai then sighed and looked down as all the memories of his days in Konoha flooded his mind. He had not thought about these in years and after his dejection, he became cold and emotionless, but just seeing this blonde-haired man brought them all back. Even back in the Wave, seeing him brought these memories back but the difference between now and then, Totosai didn't let it show back at the Wave.

"Yes, I held back because you look like him," he finally said.

"Look like who?" asked Naruto.

"Your father, Minato."

Naruto eyes widened, was he really the son of Minato, the Yondaime Hokage? Or was Totosai just messing wit his mind, but the sound of his voice, it seem true and the look he had was even more convincing.

"Are you serious? The Fourth is really my father?"

"Yes it is and you're wondering how I know, right?" asked Totosai. Naruto just nodded, "He was more than just my teammate, Minato was my best friend."

**Flashback:**

_Two boys ran through the streets of Konoha, laughing as they ran through those crowded streets. One was a little on the chubby and had very short brown hair while the other had the normal build of a young eight year old boy with spiky blonde hair and blue eyes._

"_Hey Kami, you passed it up," said the blonde boy._

_Kami quickly stopped running and turned around to find the blonde boy waving at him and laughed out of embarrassment, "I guess I got caught up in the moment."_

_Kami ran up to the blonde boy and the two entered the Ninja Academy towards their classroom._

**End of Flashback.**

"Minato and I lived next door to each other," Totosai began then chuckled a bit, "We were almost like brothers and were in the same class in the Ninja Academy."

Naruto didn't say much and just listened to the story. When he first met Totosai, he thought he was just a emotionless murderer that killed Hiroshi's parents just because he hated his brother, but to see Totosai actually seem to have some sort of human emotions just kept Naruto's mouth shut and listen to Totosai.

"My brother was already Genin when I and Minato were in the Academy. My parents always gave my brother the most attention, Minato kept me sane you could say."

**Flashback:**

"_Why can't you be more like your brother?" an older man with wavy brown hair wearing a Jounin vest with a brown shirt underneath and blue pants._

"_B-but I'm trying," the boy stuttered with tears forming in his eyes._

_A woman with long auburn hair was nearby but didn't take an initiative to defend her younger son from his father's harsh words._

"_Bullshit, you're not trying at all!" the man said picking up his voice louder._

"_Otou-san, I am trying, I am trying!" the boy said falling to his knees and began crying._

"_Useless as ever," the man scoffed and walked away, the boy looked up still crying at his mother who just shook her head and turned away._

_The boy just ran out of the house with no place in mind. Just going wherever his feet will take him, after a while of running the boy stopped at the Academy at the swing that was tied to the tree. The boy got on it and just sat there and cry, what he didn't know was another boy was approaching him and noticed he was crying._

"_Hey, what's wrong Kami?" the voice asked._

_The boy looked up in the direction of where the voice came from with tears falling down his cheek to see a blonde boy._

"_Minato? My dad said I was useless again and should try to be like Kenji," Kami replied._

"_You're not useless Kami, I've seen you work just as hard as your bother." Minato replied with a smile._

"_I tried telling him I am trying, but he just won't…I hate my brother!" yelled Kami._

"_Don't say such things, I'm sure you really don't hate him," the blonde said trying to build Kami's confidence back._

_Kami did a half laugh, half sob, "Yeah, I'll just keep trying to surpass him!"_

_Minato chuckled, "That's the spirit."_

**End of Flashback.**

Totosai sighed, "Minato was the brother I never had, while my real brother, well I guess he tried to help but I loathed him so much I always thought he was just rubbing his greatness in my face."

After listening to Totosai for a while and hearing about his brother Naruto decided to speak.

"If you thought your bother was helping you back then, why did you still kill him damn it?"

"Because I still hated him," Totosai said flatly.

Naruto clenched his fists as his anger was returning faster than ever, but before Naruto could say anything more Totosai began again.

"Then it came the day of the Graduating Exam at the Academy."

**Flashback:**

_Twelve year old Kami awoke to another sunny day. He was pretty cheerful this particular morning. Kami heard voices down stairs that sounded like his mother and father chatting with his brother. Kami slowly came down stairs to find his mother, father and his brother at the family table. Kenji noticed and attempted to great him._

"_Hey Ototo, how's it going?" Kenji asked with a smile._

_Kami was about to say something when his father broke in._

"_Don't you need to be at the Academy so you can see if you're even worth becoming a ninja?"_

_Kami just looked down and clenched his fist, _'It's always about Kenji.'_ Kami walked out the door but he didn't notice his brother's downed face._

_Kami began to walk down the road towards the Academy with serious doubts about even passing the test. With his father thinking he won't past, Kami just wanted to disappear, but things got better once Minato met up with him._

"_Hey Kami, why the long face?" asked Minato._

"_My father again," Kami said._

"_You shouldn't listen to him; you're going to be a great ninja."_

_Kami forced a smile, "Thanks Minato-niisan."_

"_Nii-san?" Minato chuckled, "Since when?"_

"_Since now, you believe in me unlike my family," replied Kami._

_The two entered the Academy and awaited the day to start. After thirty minutes everyone in the class had finally shown up and their sensei began explaining what was going to happen for the Graduation Exam. After another ten minutes the Sensei began calling off names from a list one by one. After a while, Kami was called and he went to the testing room, he performed the test and for his sake, Kami passed and was giving the Konoha forehead protector. Kami waited outside for about another twenty minutes and then Minato came out with a Konoha forehead protector as well._

"_See, I told you, you could do it," Minato said smiling._

"_Yeah, I guess I could do it after all," the brown haired boy said smiling weakly._

_Kami returned home hopefully to get some sort of thanks from his father or mother but the father just said good luck in the ninja life, but his mother, who usually was quiet finally acknowledged him. Kami was a bit happy that his mother did care, but his father was just too damned hard to please but of course there is his bother Kenji who always has the attention and praise of their father, something Kami wanted just once but even becoming a Genin didn't help._

**End of Flashback.**

Naruto couldn't help but to feel bad, though Totosai was the enemy, his childhood of wanting to be acknowledged was just the same as Naruto's.

"You were just like me, wanting to be acknowledged," Naruto said.

"That was then you fool, now it's different I'm far unlike you. You're still loyal to Konoha, I'm a missing-nin with a great hate for my family. I'd have no hesitation in destroying Konoha," Totosai saying to piss off Naruto.

Naruto clenched his fist, "Are you done?"

Totosai chuckled, "Well you wanted to know about Minato and I'm telling you about him."

Naruto sighed and let Totosai continued.

"Then we met our Sensei, Jiraiya, everything was fine but I couldn't help feel that Jiraiya-sensei payed more attention to Minato which kind of made me upset," Totosai continued.

Naruto nodded for Totosai to continue.

"We had missions, became Chunin, did more missions then became Jounin," Totosai began, "Minato got a team and while I was in the ANBU, then the war with Iwagakure began we fought with everything we had."

"You were in the ANBU? You should have been able to beat me in no time when we fought!"

"I held back since you're my best friend's son, even being in the Tatsumaki and hating Konoha, I don't think I'd ever be able to kill you for the sake of Minato," Totosai said.

Naruto just looked on.

"After the war was over, Minato met a girl from the former Whirlpool Country named Uzumaki Kushina."

Naruto's eyes widened at the name, "U-Uzumaki?"

"Hai, she was your mother. Eventually she ended up pregnant with you. The night you were to be born, the Kyuubi attacked the village. Many people died, unfortunately your mother died shortly after your birth. Minato couldn't kill the Kyuubi so he sacrificed himself and seal the demon inside his newborn son, you."

Naruto fell to his knees and buried his face into his hand. Though he had already found out he was the Fourth Hokage's son, the realization set in and he began to cry. His own father burdened him with the evil fox demon.

"There you have it, my past along with information hidden from you, you can blame the Sandaime Hokage for putting it to law to forbid anyone to talk about it," Totosai said.

Naruto pulled himself together, this was not the time to fall apart. He set out to do two things: One, get answers. Two, kill Totosai.

"Now that you have settled my curiosity, I think I'll kill you for what you did to Hiroshi's parents."

"If you think…" Totosai began but a more deeper voice cut in.

"So you think you can kill Totosai-san, eh?" the voice said.

Naruto turned around and his eyes widened at the being that stood before him, with the setting sun behind him, he could see he was wearing a cloak and had a massive sword strapped to his back. Two others were with this new man, one on each side of the bigger man.

* * *

**I tried my best to some up Kami's (Totosai) past. Kami's character is based on that little fat kid in the picture of Jiraiya and his genin time on wikipedia Until next time, see ya.**


	32. Challenge! Naruto VS?

**1.) Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**2). This is the seventh chapter in the Quest For Answers arc.**

* * *

**32. Challenge! Naruto VS…?**

The figure standing before Naruto jumped down from the ledge it was standing on and landed behind him next to Totosai. Naruto turned around could see the man's face clearly. He had straight and long aqua colored haired that was tied behind his head and stopped about his mid back. He had an amused but pretty much emotionless expression written across his face. His aqua colored eyes showed a sort of evil that could pierce through anything. Of course there was his blue Tatsumaki cloak but out of all the members Naruto encountered so far, this guy was the only to carry a sword that was in a holster strapped to his back. Naruto noticed that the rest of the members were bowing down as if this guy was superior to the rest. Finally this man broke the ice cold silence.

"You Leaf ninjas are really starting to annoy me, you've already killed two of my members and badly injured Yuki," he stated.

Before Naruto could speak up he heard a boy yelling from the distance.

"Totosai-sama! Totosai-sama!" the voice repeated.

Sumi then appeared but suddenly stopped seeing who was standing in front of Naruto and immediately bowed down.

"M-my apologies Shinsui-sama."

Shinsui let out some sort of an emotionless chuckle, "It's quite alright, Sumi-kun. Now what did you need Totosai-san for?"

Sumi rose to his feet, "Shinsui-sama, the Copy Ninja killed Burizado-sempai."

Naruto eyes widened, _'So Tsunade-baachan sent Kakashi after me.'_

"Hatake did huh?" pondered Shinsui.

Shinsui scooped the area. The two other Tatsumaki members were to the right of Shinsui while Totosai stood to his left while Sumi was on a ledge in front, behind Naruto.

"Totosai-san, you and Sumi along with you two," Shinsui began as he went from pointing at Totosai, Sumi and the other two next to him, "Head back to base, I will be there soon for our discussion."

"Hai!" all four of them yelled in unison and they quickly disappeared into the evening.

Shinsui put his full attention to the Leaf ninja that was in front of him. He made some sort of evil smirk.

"I have a proposition for you." Shinsui finally spoke.

"Yeah, and just what the hell would that be?" spat Naruto.

Shinsui gave out a fully amused chuckle this time around, "You are certainly a feisty Ninja."

Naruto didn't respond and waited for what Shinsui had to say.

"Going to stay quiet?" asked the blue cloaked man.

"I'm waiting for this _proposition_ you said you had for me," the Kyuubi container said.

"This whole time I was watching your battle against Yuki so I would like you to join the Tatsumaki."

Naruto began to laugh in a sarcastic way, "And why the hell would I join up with a bunch of S-Class bastards like you?"

"I knew you'd turn down the offer." Shinsui said, "Looks like I have no choice."

Shinsui then grabbed the handle of his sword and pulled it out. It was a long, medium sized blade.

"Just who the hell are you?" asked Naruto.

"My name's Ookawa Shinsui, Leader and Founder of the Tatsumaki," the aqua haired man replied.

'_Just as I thought, even Totosai-teme looked a bit nervous when this guy appeared.'_ Naruto thought just after Shinsui's revelation. He then quickly grabbed a couple of kunai and waited.

"I have a challenge for you," Shinsui began, "If you can beat me I'll leave but if you lose you must join my organization."

Naruto looked at him like the bastard was crazy or something. "Just why the hell do you want me to join your group so badly?"

"I like your skills, they'd prove worthy to my organization."

"And if I don't accept this challenge?" asked Naruto.

Shinsui laughed, "You don't have a choice, if you refuse, I'll just kill you and make sure Konohagakure is the first village to crumble under us."

'_He has no idea who I really am.'_ Naruto thought then decided to ask put his thought into a question, "Do you know who I am?"

Shinsui thought about it for a bit, "No, not really but I do know I want you in my organization."

Naruto smirked. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. Don't think killing me will be so easy."

Shinsui didn't seem fazed by the revelation Naruto just had made, hell it seemed to make Shinsui seem a little more excited about wanting Naruto in the Tatsumaki, "I see the Akatsuki missed one. Very well, you'd prove yourself as a more valuable asset if you were in the organization."

Naruto was sickened by this. It was like Shinsui just looked at him as just a tool that would be proven useful. People like these are what piss Naruto off more than anything. Naruto clenched his fist then spoke up again.

"What do you plan to accomplish?" asked Naruto, "We'll just crush you like we did the Akatsuki."

"Our plan is similar to what the Akatsuki wanted." Shinsui replied.

"So you plan on taking the Bijuu's and use them to create wars and crush the economies of the five great nations?" Naruto retorted in sarcasm, "You're just mere copy cats, you guys are nothing compared to the Akatsuki, I had trouble fighting them, but you guys, I can easily kill."

Shinsui began to laugh with great amusement, "First of all, you hurt my feelings. Secondly, our goal is similar but it's not anything what Akatsuki was after."

"Then what the hell is it?" demanded Naruto.

* * *

Kakashi and Hiroshi were sitting underneath a tree resting. Running non-stop for hours were really taken its toll on Naruto's student. Kakashi kind of wished Tsunade sent him by himself. He'd definitely had reached Naruto faster that way but he could see why Tsunade sent Hiroshi with him too so he'd have to just deal with it. Kakashi then noticed something in the corner of his eyes. Blue cloaked blurs were tree hoping in the forest on the other side of the roadway. 

'_Looks like they're retreating to somewhere.'_ Kakashi thought then another thought hit him. _'Wait, if they're coming from the Valley of the End, does that mean Naruto's…?'_

Hiroshi finally caught his breath when Kakashi spoke, "Hiroshi-kun, come on let's go. I have a bad feeling."

Hiroshi nodded and the two began to hop through the trees once again.

* * *

Naruto's face just displayed great anger and disgust. The revelations Shinsui just gave him sickened Naruto to the core and Naruto knew he would do anything in his power to stop these bastards from succeeding. Another thing Naruto was sure of was the fact he could kill most of the members. The one that was gave him a bit of trouble was Totosai, but Naruto wasn't sure because back in the wave Totosai had held back which really prevented Naruto from going all out in a way to maybe someday to ask why, which was the main reason from coming out this far against Tsunade's orders. 

"You're all a bunch of fucking bastards," Naruto retorted out of sheer anger. "I'll make sure you fail."

Shinsui smirked, "You ready for the challenge now?"

* * *

Tsunade was pacing back and fourth in the office. It had been hours since she found out Naruto had gone out on his own to search for Totosai and sent Kakashi along with Hiroshi to find him and bring him back. Shizune notice the distress and worry on Tsunade's face but did not address it because she knew Tsunade wouldn't admit anything. 

Tsuande's mind was on overdrive, question after question. Was Naruto alright? Was he killed? Did Kakashi and Hiroshi find him yet? Are they still searching? Even more questions kept popping up.

"Naruto…" Tsuande said but quietly enough for Shizune not to hear.

* * *

Naruto stood his ground as Shinsui charged at him really fast with his sword raised ready to slice. At the last second Naruto jumped onto Shinsui's head and then jumping off behind him. The force of Naruto's jump off of Shinsui's head caused Shinsui to stumble a bit. Shinsui turned around to a smirking Naruto who was obvious gathering chakra with the one hand seal Naruto had. 

"I created this next technique as soon as I mastered another technique I created, but I never really used it until now, I call it my 'Speedy Taijutsu Rampage'."

Suddenly Naruto disappeared in a blink of an eye, but before Shinsui could react, punches and kicks were hitting him all over the place from what it seemed to be in all directions. Shinsui tried to counter but could not do anything until the rampage of invisible Taijutsu stopped. After what it seemed to be an eternity (only to Shinsui, the rampage only lasted a minute or two) the rampage stopped. Shinsui got up slowly and looked around but there was no Naruto. _'Just what the hell kind of attack was that?'_

"Confused?" a voice called out what seemed like thin air. Shinsui looked around and found nothing, "I just used my Sumiyaka no Hikari no Jutsu (Speed of Light Technique)."

"What the hell is that?" asked a confused but amazed Shinsui.

"Well if I told you that, it wouldn't a secret," the voice mocked and Naruto appeared in front of Shinsui and spin-kicked him across the face and he fell backwards.

Shinshui quickly got up and smirked, "You pretty good, now it's more turn." He began flashing through hand seals and stopped and pumped chakra into his blade, "Tri-Blade Attack."

The sword then turned into three blades and the quickly surrounded Naruto. Naruto looked around trying to figure out just what the hell the blades were going to do. Suddenly the blades began to attack slicing away at Naruto. Cuts and slashes appeared suddenly as the extremely fast attacks from all three blades. Shinsui began to laugh as if he was a child having fun with a new toy.

"You're not the only one with speed. Though the attack isn't deadly, but it sure is fast."

'_What the hell, is he just toying with me?'_ Naruto questioned inside his mind while wincing at the pain of each slash and cut made by the attack. Suddenly the attack stopped and the sword returned as one. With the attack over, Naruto's cuts and gashes began to heal right away and this did not go unnoticed by Shinsui.

'_What the hell? His cuts are healing at a tremendous rate. Is it the power he holds inside?'_

Naruto took Shinsui's lost trace into his advantage and formed a ball of swirling chakra in his hands. Shinsui barely had enough time to react, he placed his sword in front of him as Naruto's hand slammed into it, "Rasegan!" Naruto yelled. The power of the attack still made Shinsui to lose his balance and land in the lake a few feet away. Shinsui got out, but was unharmed and even his sword was still in one piece.

"Well I have to give it to you, that attack was pretty powerful though it didn't do anything to me." Shinsui smirked.

Naruto was confused, why the hell was the sword still intact? Shouldn't the force of his attack have shattered the piece of scrap metal into pieces? There had to be some sort of trick behind that damned sword.

"I bet you're wondering why my sword is still intact." Shinsui began to taunt, "But guess what? It's a secret." Shinsui then began to laugh.

Naruto then noticed his sword was a light shade of blue that it wasn't when Shinsui pulled it out of his holster on his back, _'I get it, the sword absorbs chakra. If I can separate Shinsui from his sword I may have a chance at defeating him.'_

Shinsui began to flashing through hand seals once again. When he stopped at the final seal he yelled, "Tri-Blade Explosion!"

The sword broke off into three blades again and Shinsui wrapped some sort of seal around the blades. The blades then dashed over to Naruto and each one stuck into the ground to form a triangle.

"What the hell is this?" Naruto asked himself then noticed the paper seals began to glow. The three blades soon encased into a chakra barrier in the shape of a triangle. Soon the second part of the seals began to glow. "Shit!"

There was a big explosion inside of the chakra barrier. Smoke was everywhere inside that barrier and it took a long while to clear. When it did Shinsui inspected it only to find woodchips inside. Shinsui eyes then widened, "It was a Kawarimi (Replacement)."

"Odama Rasengan!" a voice yelled out and Shinsui looked up to see Naruto and another Naruto holding a big sphere and spiraling chakra coming right at him. Shinsui barely dodged in time as the massive attack hit the ground kicking up dust and debri. When it all settled, there was now a massive crater with Naruto standing on the edge breathing hard. Shinsui smirked.

"You really are good," Shinsui began, "It's time that I went all out now."

* * *

Kakashi and Hiroshi were going as fast as they could through the trees. They began to speed up when Kakashi felt a chakra spike that he knew was Naruto but another one he did not recognize. Instead of worrying Hiroshi, Kakashi just told Hiroshi that he finally picked up Naruto's chakra and they were indeed heading in the right direction. 

'_Naruto, whatever you're doing, just hold on I'm on my way.'_

* * *

Tsunade sighed as she sat at her desk in frustration. Shizune finally decided to confront Tsuande. 

"Tsunade-sama, I think you should go get some sleep. You're starting to stress out," she said while being a bit nervous.

Tsunade nodded but stayed at the desk. She was quiet for a bit then finally spoke up, "That baka better not do anything stupid to get himself hurt."

"So you do care." Shizune said but quickly regretted it.

"Of course, he's a Shinobi of Konoha." Tsunade said covering up her true answer.

"I'm sure Naruto's fine," Shizune began, "Kakashi-san and Hiroshi-kun probably found him and are on the way home as we speak."

"I hope so."

* * *

**I did not wish to reveal Tatsumaki's plans yet. I will slowly start revealing it in the next arc. Until next time, see ya.**


	33. The Real Fight Begins!

**1.) Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters.**

**2.) This is the eighth chapter in the Quest For Answers arc.**

* * *

**33. The Real Fight Begins!**

Night slowly crept over Konohagakure (Village Hidden in the Leaves) as Tsunade sat in her office staring out the window with thoughts going through her head concerning the village and of course Naruto. Suddenly there was a 'poof' and Jiraiya stood in Tsunade's office.

"Tsunade, I just saw something you should be aware of," the old pervert said.

"What it is it, Jiraiya?" the Hokage asked.

"Well I was coming back with more information on the Tatsumaki when I saw Naruto and Ookawa Shinsui fighting."

Tsunade's eyes widened, "What?!"

"As soon as I saw it I came here as fast as I could," Jiraiya began. "Because I found out something on this man, he is more dangerous than I originally thought."

"Let me hear it."

* * *

Naruto stood heavily breathing as for the last few minutes he's been barely dodging Shinsui's sword. Then again Shinsui's sword turned into mini blades and headed straight for Naruto. This time all the blades hit Naruto and Shinsui smirked until he heard a 'poof' sound as smoke appeared around a log. Naruto hid in the trees to wait for an opening to attack. 

"Staling, are we?" asked Shinsui.

Naruto stayed quiet in the trees while he awaited for an opening, when Shinsui had is back to the tree Naruto was hiding in, Naruto went for the kill. Naruto did a hand seal and disappeared from the tree, the next second Naruto appeared behind Shinsui and stabbed him with a kunai in the back. Shinsui then turned into water.

'_Shit, a Mizu Bushin (Water Replication),'_

Out of the corner of Naruto's eyes he saw Shinsui running with his sword, Naruto barely dodged it but Shinsui managed to cut Naruto across his left shoulder blade.

"You're quick at dodging, I'll give you that," complimented Shinsui. "But now I'll shall kill you."

Naruto's eyebrow arched up, "Kill me? I thought this was a fight to force me into your organization."

Shinsui began to laugh, "Well if you survive this fight after losing, then yeah you'll be forced to join."

Shinsui took his blade into his hands and quickly went through hand seals, "Tajuu Katana Kage Bushin no Jutsu! (Mutliple Blade Shadow Replication Techinque)!"

The blade Shinsui held turned into hundreds of the same blade that completely surrounded Naruto. Naruto looked around and saw there was no way to dodge unless he tried to jump straight up so he quickly gathered chakra into his feet to prepare for a chakra induced jump. Shinsui smirked and did a hand seal and all the Katana's began to close in on Naruto. Naruto jumped high over the blades and smirked at dodging them successfully, but in turn Shinsui smirked and did another hand movement and the blades went up to follow Naruto.

"Shit!" he yelled and all the blades went straight through Naruto's body, but instead of blood gushing out, this Naruto disappeared into a puff of smoke. Shinsui's eyes widened and tried to look around. Two Naruto's with a great big spiraling ball of chakra charged at Shinsui as he didn't attempt to look behind him but at the last second Shinsui looked behind to see the incoming attack.

"Odama Rasengan (Great Ball Rasengan)!" shouted the real Naruto as he thrusted the ball forward. The attack connected with Shinsui as he was engulfed in light and sent flying through the air crashing into the nearby rocks. The clone dispersed and Naruto stood heavily breathing.

"That takes care of that," he said with a sense of victory.

* * *

Kakashi and Hiroshi were taking another break as Hiroshi couldn't keep going any longer. Kakashi sighed as he looked at the kid. 

'_This kid's slowing me down. We'll never get there at this rate.'_

Hiroshi knew he was slowing down Naruto's old sensei, but for some reason Tsunade had ordered him to accompany Kakashi on this S-Class Retrieval mission.

"We've been here for a good thirty minutes, you rested enough?" asked Kakashi.

Hiroshi got up to check himself before answering; when he felt he was okay he spoke, "Hai, Kakashi-san. Let's go."

* * *

Tsunade stared at Jiraiya while she waited for any kind of answer to her question. She could tell he was having a mental battle, whether to tell her what he knows are not. 

"I have a spy in the Tatsumaki ranks. He has really made an impression there, he even had a brotherly type relationship with one of them but now he's dead." Jiraiya finally spoke while chuckling.

"Jiraiya, that's great and all but I want to know what you found out about this Ookawa Shinsui." Tsunade said sternly.

Jiraiya cleared his throat, "Yes. Well as I said before he's more dangerous than I thought."

Tsuande didn't say anything, she just listened to what Jiraiya had to say.

"He's not the leader of the Tatsumaki for nothing. He's an S-Ranked Missing-nin from Kirigakure (Village Hidden in the Mist). He mainly uses his extreme Kenjutsu skills but he's a rare being on his Ninjutsu."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Tsunade.

"He can use jutsu from any element." Jiraiya said in a very serious tone.

Tsuande then looked Jiraiya straight in the eye and then spoke, "If you found that out and saw Naruto fighting this man, why in the hell didn't you go and help him instead of coming to me with this information!"

Jiraiya stepped back a little, if there was one person in this world he was afraid of, it would be a pissed off Tsunade. Jiraiya began to rub the back of his head and laugh nervously.

"It didn't cross my mind."

Tsunade was about to punch Jiraiya straight in the face when he spoke up again.

"But he was a major weakness, he can't fight more than one opponent and I saw Kakashi and some kid heading to where Naruto was so he'll be fine, I'm sure Naruto can hold on his own until Kakashi shows up."

Tsunade just sighed and return to her desk. Jiraiya then spoke once more.

"I also found out from Tatsumaki's goal from my spy."

Tsunade just looked, awaiting for Jiraiya to continue.

* * *

Naruto caught his breath and walked toward the rock that Shinsui slammed into by the force of Naruto's Odama Rasengan. Naruto could see the body just lie there and Naruto smirked. He defeated the leader of the Tatsumaki with just one attack. Naruto's joy was quickly destroyed when he reached the body. The body began to turn into dirt. Naruto then heard laughter within the distance from behind him. Naruto turned around to see Shinsu standing by the lake. 

"How do you like my Tsuchi Bushin (Earth Replication)?" he mocked asked.

Naruto clenched his fist. _'So the teme (bastard) won't go down so easily after all.'_

"You must be a real baka to have underestimated me so badly." Shinsui teased, "Now let me show you real power."

Shinsui flashed through hand seals and when he stopped at the last one he shouted, "Doton: Yama Kurie-shon no Jutsu (Earth Release: Mountain Creation Technique)!"

The ground began to shake violently which caused Naruto to lose his balance and fell. Suddenly a large mountain appeared in front of Naruto. Shinsui smirked, he was in the perfect position for Shinsui's next move. Shinsui wasted no time as he flashed through hand seals once again.

"Doton: Iwa Suraido no Jutsu (Earth Release: Rock Slide Technique)!"

Rocks began to slide down the mountain. It all happened so fast that Naruto could not react and was buried under all the rocks. To Shinsui this move was supposed to kill Naruto and soon would see how to not underestimate Konoha's #1 Unpredictable Ninja.

'_Such a shame, he would have been a good candidate for the Tatsumaki.'_ Shinsui thought as the mountain he had created crumbled into a pile of rocks. Shinsui began to walk away from the battle area when he heard a faint voice from within the piles of rock.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!" the voice faintly yelled.

A giant toad emerged from the pile of rocks with Naruto on top of its head.

"What's goin' on here?" asked the toad then noticed something on its head and saw it was Naruto, "Oh Naruto, what's up?"

Naruto couldn't speak as he was trying to gather air and just pointed to Shinsui who was on the ground looking up.

"This shrimp, huh?" the toad said.

The massive toad went through seals, "Suiton: Teppōdama (Water Release: Gunshot)

A massive ball of water emerged out of the large toad's mouth and was aimed right at Shinsui. The massive ball slammed into the ground where Shinsui stood. Once all the water spread across the ground, Shinsui was no where to be found. The large toad looked around while Naruto did too as he finally caught his breath.

"Gamabunta, this teme is very crafty watch out."

Gamabunta did not reply as Shinsui's voice echoed through the area.

"Nice trick Naruto, getting yourself out of the pile of rocks. Now it's time to meet my summon. Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A massive scorpion emerged on the left side of Gamabunta. The massive toad quickly grabbed his katana and awaited a strike.

"Doku Ken Shippo (Poison Sting Tail)!" the giant scorpion yelled and thrusted its tail with the stinger at the end. Gamabunta reacted quickly and used his katana and slashed the scorpion's tail off. The scorpion reacted and shot out a ball of sand that managed to hit Gamabunta. The scorpion couldn't take the pain of its tail being cut off and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Shinsui fell to the ground as he used up a lot of chakra to summon the scorpion. Gamabunta was trying to get sand out of eyes and decided to leave as well to find some water to wash it out and too disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto landed on the ground and quickly fell to one knee and began breathing heavily.

"Looks like we better end this now," Shinsui said.

"You still want to fight, look at as!" protested Naruto.

"It's a fight to the death, unless you give up now and join up with us." Shinsui replied with a smirk.

"Never," the blonde Jounin began, "Never will I ever join an organization like yours."

"Then you have no choice to continue. The only way out of this is if you kill me." Shinsui said and got up and took out his Katana and charged at Naruto.

* * *

Tsuande stood silent, she could not believe what Jiraiya had just told her. The ideals and plans of the Tatsumaki, she just could not comprehend them very well. 

"It's disgusting, I know, to use people for something like that." Jiraiya said, "That's why they must be stopped. Their plans cannot succeed in any instant."

Tsunade shook her head, "And to think we even fell for one part of their plans from the very beginning."

"I couldn't contact my spy at the time or we would have known about it sooner."

Tsunade looked at Jiraiya, "And I still don't approve of who you placed into the Tatsumaki as a spy."

"Relax, he's smart. He knows when it is time to flee." Jiraiya said reassuring Tsunade.

* * *

"Hurry up Hiroshi, we are almost there." Kakashi said signaling Hiroshi to hurry. 

Hiroshi sped up as fast as he could, "I'm trying Kakashi-san. I'm only a Genin, remember that."

Kakashi just nodded and the two continued to forest. _'The Valley of the End is up ahead, hold on Naruto we're almost there to help.'_

* * *

Shinusi ran at Naruto with his Katana in hand. Naruto slowly took out a kunai with his right hand and waited patiently. Shinsui thrusted his Katana but Naruto moved quickly, dodged and grabbed onto Shinsui's wrist and began to twist Shinsu's arm as Naruto stabbed him in the arm with a kunai. Shinsui let out a small grunt from the pain trying to yell. Blood began to flow down from the wound and once Naruto let go Shinsui's arm went limp. Shinsui tried to move his arm. 

"What the hell did you do to my arm?" questioned a now frustrated Shinsui.

"I just rendered it useless," the blonde replied.

Shinsui placed his Katana back in its holster and pulled out the kunai from his arm hoping that would let him use it again. To Shinsui's dismay, he couldn't.

"What the hell? I still can't use my arm!" he yelled

"I said before, I rendered it useless." Naruto said sternly.

"No matter, I can still use my Kenjutsu even with one hand." Shinsui said confidently.

Shinsui pulled out his Katana once again and managed to make hand seals with just one hand.

'_Hand seals with one hand, great.'_ the blonde mentally noted.

"Tajuu Katana Kage Bushin no Jutsu (Mutliple Blade Shadow Replication Technique)!"

A large amount of Katana's once again surrounded Naruto. This time around from what Naruto learned from his clone he could not escape this even if he tried. He'd have to use another means of escaping and waited for the incoming attack.

"Well Naruto, it looks like you're about to die. You can give up now and join the Tatsumaki or I can take your life." Shinsui said.

"I'd rather die a thousand times over before I'd ever join your fucking organization!" spat Naruto.

Shinsui shook his head, "It's a shame really, but death it is!"

* * *

**Sorry for taking so long to update, my internet was cut off before the 10th which was my day off which I would of updated and didn't get turned back on 'til friday, and to top that I've been working since the 11th. I work today but manage to wake up early enough to update so enjoy. Until next time, see ya.**


	34. Desperation Sets In! Kakashi Arrives!

**1.) Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**2.) This is the nineth chapter in the Quest For Answers arc.

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34. Desperation Sets In! Kakashi Arrives! 

He looked around to see if there were any openings he could quickly run through but couldn't find anything. The blades were surrounding him, pointing at him, waiting. Sweat began to fall from his head as he waited himself for the exact time in which he could perform they only option he had. He turned back to his opponent and waited for the quick signal. Minutes felt like hours as the sweat increased. Hesitation and nervousness was slowly seeping through his veins as he patiently waited for the oncoming attack. Finally, what felt like three agonizing hours his opponent made a hand movement and the blades surrounding him quickly started at him. He quickly went through hand seals without his opponent noticing and soon after the blades sliced right through him and his opponent smirked some sort of victorious smirk until he heard that all too familiar 'poof' sound. The body the blades attacked turned into a massive log with all the blades through it. All but one disappeared from existence. The Kenjutsu user walked up to the log and pulled out his katana and quickly scanned the area for the target.

'_Phew, that was a close one,'_ he thought as he hid in the trees above the now battered battlefield. He sat there waiting for his next move.

"Naruto, you can come out. You cannot hide from me forever," the opponent said and quickly went through hand seals and stopped at the tiger sign.

'_Shit, Shinsui's going to use a fire Jutsu,' _Naruto mentally noted.

Shinsui jumped into the air, "I guess I'll just have the scorch the area. Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!"

Shinsui put his hand up to his face and began to exhale and a massive flame shot out and turned into a massive fireball that began to burn up the area. Naruto quickly jumped through the trees and jumped into the lake to wait. After a few minutes the fire died down and the entire area was scorched. The nearby trees were quickly burned up, but to Shinsui's displeasure it did not bring Naruto out of hiding.

"Damn it, he seems to be one step ahead of me," he said to himself out loud.

He had his back turned to the lake and Naruto took this as his chance to land a clear hit. Naruto did his cross hand seal and mentally yelled, _'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Replication Technique)!'_ and three clones appeared and quickly jumped out of the water. Shinsui heard it and turned around but saw nothing. The clones had jumped out of the water to the side and as Shinsui turned around they ran around keeping out of his eye sight and got behind him.

"I could have sworn I heard something come out of…" was all he could finish before he felt feet kicking him up into the air.

Shinsui looked up to see Naruto above him ready to strike, but this time Naruto created about ten more bunshins and they were all ready to strike. Soon eleven fists connected with Shinsui's face and he fell to the ground. Once he hit the ground with 'thud' Naruto dispersed all the clones and landed on the ground a few feet away and waited. After a few minutes Naruto heard laughter coming from the body ahead of him and it slowly got up. Shinsui's eyes met Naruto's as they both glared at each other.

"That was a good trick, hiding in the water," he began. "But you still won't beat me so just give it up and join."

It was Naruto's turn to laugh and replied, "I've said once and I'll say it again, I'd die before ever joining your group but I'll tell you another thing, I will make damned sure I take your worthless ass with me."

Shinsui started laughing, "You've got spunk, I'll give you that but I think it's time to end this contest, don't you?"

Naruto just nodded and Shinsui flashed through hand seals and stopped at the sign of the rat, "Doton: Gekiha Hashira no Jutsu (Earth Release: Crushing Pillars Technique)!"

The ground shook and three massive pillars of earth rose surrounding Naruto, he did not have any room to get out of the way at this time and began to panic, _'Shit, I hesitated.'_

"This is it Naruto, you can quit and join Tatsumaki or you can die."

Naruto looked at him one last time, "I'd rather die."

Shinsui just shook his head in shame and continued the jutsu, the three pillars collapsed on each other and began crushing Naruto. Shinsui could hear faint screams from within the core and smirked.

* * *

Two ninjas moved at a fast pace through the trees. Suddenly they stopped when they felt the earth slightly shake. Kakashi looked over the horizon and saw three pillars of earth rise into the sky. They were not that far from where Shinsui and Naruto were fighting.

'_Naruto must be just over there.'_ Kakashi mentally noted then took another look at the three pillars of earth, _'I've seen that jutsu before. Shit, Naruto hold on!'_

Hiroshi just watched, _'What the hell is that? I hope Naruto-sensei is okay.'_ Then he noticed Kakashi taking off again and went after him.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes and found himself in his sewer-like mindscape. He stood by a two large doors with bars with the middle have a paper with 'seal' written on it. Suddenly read eyes appeared before the bars.

"**What is it, why are you bothering me?" **a demonic voice question.

Naruto just stared him down, not afraid, "I need your power."

The demonic voice began to laugh, **"I knew you'd come for my power sooner or later."**

"Shut up fox, just give me the power." Naruto demanded.

"**Fine."**

Naruto returned to the world to pain of being crushed and began to scream in pain again. Shinsui heard and was surprised; he had thought Naruto already died moments ago. Suddenly Shinsui's blood ran cold, he felt a killer intent he had never felt before in his entire life and he felt it coming from the area his jutsu was in. He hesitantly looked at it and notice red spewing out of the cracks and soon a massive explosion followed. Shinsui's jutsu was flattened and before him was Naruto, only with longer fangs, bigger and darker whisker marks, claws and red chakra surrounding him. The chakra formed fox ears and had one chakra tail.

"Wha-what the hell is that?" Shinsui asked in fear.

* * *

Kakashi and Hiroshi got closer by the second and soon both stopped, they felt the foul chakra.

"Oh no, this isn't good." Kakashi said out loud.

Hiroshi looked over to Kakashi, "What's not good, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi forgot Hiroshi had been with him and looked at him, "Nothing, don't worry about it. Come on we have to hurry."

The two finally reached the Valley of the End and you could tell a battle was being played out but to Kakashi's surprise Naruto was not fighting Totosai as he thought he would but a different man but was obviously a member of the Tatsumaki. Hiroshi too was surprised that it was Totosai since Naruto had told him before he left that he was going after Totosai. Kakashi noticed right away Naruto was in his one-tailed Kyuubi form and waited for the right moment to interfere if Naruto began to grow more chakra tails.

Naruto began his onslaught, quickly disappearing from Shinsui eye sight.

'_Shit, he's faster than before.'_ Shinsui thought as he tried to focus his eyes on him.

Naruto continued to run in circles really fast before striking. It happened so fast that Shinsui did not have any time to react as he felt Naruto's claws swipe through Shinsui's chest. Shinsui, however, did manage to jump back to lessen the damage. He had four cuts across his chest, they were not deep, they were bleeding and the red chakra that Naruto was shrouded in was poison to Shinsui and immediately dropped to one knew.

"Th-this ch-chakra is p-poison me," Shinsui stuttered in pain.

Then the onslaught of Taijutsu came. Naruto in on-tailed Kyuubi-form quickly closed in and began rampaging Shinsui with punches and kicks left and right. Shinsui tried his best to defend but Naruto's speed kept him from blocking all of Naruto's attacks. Finally Naruto gave one final blow to Shinsui's face. The force of the chakra-enhanced punched caused him to fly a few feet and slam into a tree cracking it.

Kakashi continued to observe, _'Naruto seems to be in control but he shouldn't keep using that power anymore.'_

'_Such power, Naruto is very strong. I now see he really is Jounin.'_ Hiroshi thought as he watched Naruto's barrage on Shinsui then Hiroshi was caught out of his thoughts.

"Naruto!" yelled Kakashi to catch Naruto's attention. Naruto looked in the direction he heard the voice and eyes widened. Quickly Naruto turned back to normal.

"Ka-Kashi-sensei, what are you doing here?" he asked in surprise.

'_Good, that brought him back to normal.'_ "Tsunade-sama sent us to retrieve you before you do anything stupid and by the looks of it I was late."

Naruto chuckled, "Kakashi-sensei, you're always late."

"Naruto-sensei!" yelled Hiroshi finally. Naruto turned.

"What the…Hiroshi, Tsunade-baachan sent you too?" he asked.

"Yeah, so Naruto-sensei where is Kami?" asked Hiroshi.

Naruto looked the ground, "The bastard got away again only because this bastard got involved." Naruto then pointed to the motionless body lying by a nearby tree.

Hiroshi clenched his fist, "One day Naruto-sensei, one of us will kill him."

Naruto nodded. Kakashi just observed, _'He even has strong bonds with his student.'_

What they had failed to notice was the body began to stir and struggle to its feet. The man looked at Naruto and then at the two newcomers, _'Great, two more Konoha ninjas have come.'_

He noticed Naruto was not paying any attention to him whatsoever and took the advantage and went through same hand seals he had done when he trapped Naruto the first time, _'Doton: Gekiha Hashira no Jutsu (Earth Release: Crushing Pillars Technique)!'_

Naruto was about to turn his attention back on Shinsui when the ground began to shake and three pillars of earth rose surrounding Naruto once again, _'Shit, I should have been paying attention to Shinsui instead of talking with Kakashi-sensei and Hiroshi.'_

Kakashi watched carefully, _'Now I know, the Gekihi Hashira no Jutsu.'_ After observing Kakashi quickly lifted up his forehead protector revealing his Sharingan eye and quickly went through hand seals, he held out his left hand as electric affiliated chakra formed in his hands.

"Raikiri (Lightning Blade)!" he yelled and dashed down to where Naruto was as the pillars of earth closed in Naruto to begin crushing him.

Shinsui eyes widened as Kakashi's attack cut right through the hard rock as if it was paper. The rocks crumbled and Naruto was once again freed. Naruto fell to his knees and began breathing hard.

"Th-thanks, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said between breathes.

"You should of being paying attention, Naruto," Kakashi scolded.

Naruto smiled and rubbed the back of his head, "There's the 'your welcome' I remember."

Shinsui stared at Kakashi finally realizing who it was, "So the great Copy-nin has decided to join the party."

Kakashi turned to Shinsui, "Ookawa Shinsui, a missing-nin from Kirigakure (Village Hidden in the Mist) and has the ability to use jutsu from any element, yeah, I know who you are too."

"Too bad I never got a nickname," Shinsui stated sarcastically.

Kakashi turned to Naruto, "I thought you came to fight Totosai."

"He was here, I managed to get him to tell me what Konoha has been hiding from me all these years by simply stating he held back," Naruto began. "After he told me everything, we fought. I would have killed him if Shinsui-baka here didn't interrupt. That allowed Totosai escape to recover."

'_I wonder what he was told.'_ Kakashi thought.

Kakashi, Naruto turned back to Shinsui who was just standing there, the poor bastard looked tired. This was the first time in a long time any ninja gave a run for his money as Naruto managed to beat the crap out of him just minutes ago.

Hiroshi, however, was wondering what Naruto was talking about when he had mentioned something about information that Konoha had been keeping from Naruto so he decided to test his luck and see if Naruto would say.

"Uh, Naruto-sensei?" he began, "What exactly do you mean when you said you found out something Konoha had kept from you?"

Naruto looked to his student and smiled, "It's nothing to worry about, 'k?"

Hiroshi just nodded though he really wanted to know. Kakashi spoke up again.

"What were you doing fighting Naruto anyway?" he asked, "You're not his target for now."

"It's not a fight Copy-nin, it is a challenge," answered Shinsui. "The challenge was if he'd lose, Naruto here would have to join the Tatsumaki."

Kakashi didn't seem fazed, "And if you lost?"

"I'd be dead and essentially Naruto would have his freedom," answered Shinsui.

Kakashi just had to laugh at Shinsui's attempt at bring Naruto into his organization. "I'm assuming the Tatsumaki is _your_ organization."

Shinsui smirked, "My, aren't you the smart one. Yes, I am indeed the leader of the Tatsumaki."

"What do you plan on doing with this organization of yours anyway?" asked Kakashi.

Shinsui was about to answer when Naruto cut in, "That doesn't matter right now, Kakashi-sensei. Let's just kill the bastard."

Kakashi stayed silent for a bit then nodded, "Alright the three of us will take him on."

Hiroshi's right eyebrow arched up, "You want me to fight to?" he aksed Kakashi, "I quickly lost to Kami, who the hell am I going to fight the leader?"

Naruto was the one to reply, "Hiroshi, it's alright. You'll be fine and besides, you took on Totosai by yourself and this time around you have me and Kakashi-sensei fighting along side."

Hiroshi smiled, "Thanks for the confidence booster, Naruto-sensei."

Naruto just gave his trademark grin and turned his attention back to Shinsui who seemed to be a little unnerved now.

"So Kakashi, what's the plan?"

'_Shit, three on one. This is bad, for reasons unknown to myself, I can't fight against more than one opponent.'_ Shinsui stated mentally as he actually began to fear for his life.

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**Until next time, see ya.**


	35. Three VS One!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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**35. Three VS One!**

Sweat fell off his face as he threw glances to his left right and front. Three opponents and only one of him though one won't be too much problem but he still had to worry about the one with silver hair and the one with blonde hair.

'_I won't worry about the Genin, I'll focus on Naruto and the Copy-nin.'_

Kakashi looked over at Naruto who was breathing hard, _'Naruto looks very worn out, better keep a good eye on this guy.'_

Kakashi used his right hand and grabbed the part of his forehead protector that covered his left eye and raised it up revealing his crimson eye with three black tomoe's around the pupil. Hiroshi quickly noticed it.

'_That eye, it looks exactly like the eyes of that man Naruto-sensei fought back in the Hidden Waterfal.'_ He mentally noted as he remembered the face of Sasuke.

Shinsui smirked but inside he actually became a little nervous, "So you're going to use the Sharingan."

"Yes," was Kakashi's simple reply.

'_Hmm, I can't stay and fight I have to get the hell as soon as I get a chance. I will not survive this.'_

Kakashi looked at Naruto and nodded and the fight was about to begin. Kakashi flashed through hand seals. Shinsui noticed he performed them faster than he so he didn't have time to react.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!" he yelled and took a deep breath and exhaled, a massive flame erupted and targeted Shinsui.

Shinsui's eyes widened as the oncoming attack was fast and no time to react, the intense flames hit its target. Kakashi actually thought he had gotten Shisnui.

'_So much for the leader of the Tatsumaki,'_ he thought.

The smoke cleared and Kakashi's eyes widened as Shinsui wasn't where he was supposed to be. All that remained was a small puddle of water that was quickly evaporating by the intense heat that still remained on the scorched area.

'_A Mizu Bunshin (Water Replication), hmm,'_ Kakashi thought as he waited. Soon enough he sensed projectiles coming at him and quickly turned around with kunai in hand and deflected all the shuriken that was thrown at him. After deflecting the projectiles Kakashi turned his attention to the figure that was standing ahead of him. There stood Shinsui standing with a small evil smirk painted on his face.

"That was close," he said, "I had barely enough create a Mizu Bunshin and use the Kawarimi (Body Replacement) to get away from that jutsu."

Kakashi though didn't seemed fazed one bit by Shinsui's supposed escape and it was Shinsui's turn to flash through hand seals with the final hand seal pumping chakra into his katana.

"Kage Katana Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Blade Replication Technique)!"

"What?!" Kakashi said in surprise as Shinsui's blade turned into many and surrounded Kakashi.

Shinsui smirked and did one hand seal, "Tajuu Katana Kai (Multiple Blade Cut)!"

The surrounding blades decended and quickly began cutting Kakashi. The attack was over just as quick as it began leaving a bunch of little cuts with small amounts of blood leaking out of them. Kakashi grunted in pain.

'_This attack, he's toying with me.'_

"Okay enough games, time to finish this," Shinsui spoke, "It would be an honor for me to kill the great Copy-nin."

Shinsui did another hand seal, "Tajuu Katana Shishou (Multiple Blade Stab)!"

All the blades tilted until they looked like they were merely pointing at Kakashi and quickly all the blades descended and stabbed Kakashi at all angles on his body. Shinsui immediately knew something was wrong when no blood began dripping from the human sword holder. Kakashi then puffed out of existence.

"What? A Kage Bunshin?" Shinsui asked no one in particular.

Shinsui undid the jutsu and now only one katana remained but he didn't dare move to retrieve it, he was waiting for the next move to be made by any of the ninja but not moving was a big mistake as two hands came out of the ground and grabbed a hold of Shinsui's ankles. The hands pulled him under and turned out to be Kakashi's. Kakashi didn't pull him all the way under only exposing the head like normal. Instead, Kakashi brought him down into the ground just enough so Shinsui couldn't move his hand. Kakashi bent down to Shinsui's level and smirked and disappeared. What was he planning? Then he saw it, the blonde he was fighting earlier was charging at him with a ball of swirling chakra in his hand.

'_Shit!'_ Shinsui yelled in his mind as Naruto came closer and closer. Soon pain shot through Shinsui's shoulder.

"Rasengan!" yelled Naruto as he slammed his palm into Shinsui's left shoulder. The force of the Naruto's Rasengan was powerful enough to break Shinsui out of the ground and send him flying through the air. Shinsui tried to balance himself in the air so he could stop himself. Shinsui managed to do so and pumped his remaining chakra into his feet as they slid across the ground in hopes of stopping. Finally Shinsui stopped he tried to move his left arm but pain quickly ended that. Naruto's attack left the muscles around his shoulder in shambles. Unable to move his left arm, Shinsui began trying to find a way out of this fight.

'_I think I've been beat, I need to get out of here.'_ Shinsui though and turned around to try to escape.

Kakashi was standing there with chakra in his right hand with electricity sparking out of it.

"Wh-what is that?" asked a slightly nervous Shinsui.

"My, is the great leader of the Tatsumaki nervous?" mock asked Kakashi.

"I fear no one," lied Shinsui when in fact as soon as Kakashi had arrived to interrupt him and Naruto's fight, we was slightly afraid.

Kakashi smirked underneath his mask and charged at Shinsui at blinding speed. Kakashi was clearly aiming for Shinsui's heart and at the very last minute Shinsui tried to jump out of the way. Shinsui wasn't fast enough so Kakashi's Raikiri (Lightning Blade) did slice through Shinsui's already damaged shoulder. This brought a piercing scream from Shinsui as the pain was just too much. It managed to bring Shinsui to a knee. When the blade made of lightning disappeared Shinsui quickly grabbed his wounded shoulder.

'_This is not good; I need to get out of here fast.'_

Shinsui quickly glanced around trying to find any means of escaping this now turned hell battle. Things were good when it was just Naruto, now that he was fighting the Copy Ninja from Konohagakure (Village Hidden in the Leaves). When Shinsui noticed that Kakashi was looking over at Naruto signaling him, Shinsui took the chance to run. If he stayed any longer he would be good as dead and so he took the opportunity to run and quickly dashed into the trees clutching his shoulder.

"Kakashi-sensei, Shinsui's escaping!" yelled Naruto and Kakashi quickly turned around to find Shinsui not where he was.

"Shit," was all Kakashi had to say as Naruto and Kakashi went after Shinsui.

* * *

Shinsui leaped through the trees as fast as he could trying to get away from a mission that terribly failed all because of an unexpected guest.

'_If I couldn't beat the Copy Ninja, how am I supposed to go through with the plans.'_

Shinsui was sent out of his thinking when pain came to the arm clutching his shoulder. He looked to find a kunai embedded in his arm. He looked ahead to find Hiroshi standing on a tree branch ahead of him.

Shinsui chuckled, "You think you could defeat me? Even in my current state, you couldn't lay a finger on me."

"My name's Kurosaki Hiroshi and I will fight you." Hiroshi said with confidence.

"Kurosaki? You related to Kami?" asked Shinsui.

"Hai, that wretched teme (bastard) is my uncle." Hiroshi replied.

Without warning Hiroshi charged at Shinsui. Shinsui smirked. Hiroshi quickly took out a kunai when he got closer to Shinsui but before he could attack Shinsui he was grabbed by the neck by Shinsui's right arm.

"I told you kid, you cannot beat me even in this condition," he said while holding onto Hiroshi's neck.

"I just bought time for them." Hiroshi said pointing to two figures behind Shinsui.

Shinsui glanced over his shoulder to find Naruto and Kakashi standing on a tree branch behind him. Shinsui cursed himself, it was all a trap and he fell right into it. His hold on Hiroshi's neck began to tighten. Naruto immediately noticed this.

"Hey! Get your filthy hands off of him!" he yelled and disappeared and reappeared at the right side of Shinsui. Naruto took out a couple of kunai and stabbed Shinsui in the arm that was being used to hold Hiroshi. Naruto's eyes widened, instead of blood coming out of the wounds, water began pouring out and soon enough the replication turned into water. Hiroshi began to free fall but Naruto quickly reacted and caught Hiroshi before he hit the floor. Naruto let him down to the ground while Kakashi joined them on the ground as well.

"It looks like he escaped after all."

* * *

Shinsui finally came a clearing and stopped and just fell the ground. He was tired and in so much pain and he used up the last of his chakra in maintaining the Mizu Bunshin to through off Kakashi and Naruto. Soon a dark shadow stood over him.

"Look at you." the dark, mysterious voice said.

Shinsui's eyes widened and the voice spoke again.

"Deceiving your opponents is fine, but this I won't tolerate."

* * *

Kakashi, Naruto and Hiroshi just stood looking around, for reasons they didn't know. They knew Shinsui had escaped. Kakashi covered his left eye with his forehead protector and looked at Naruto who just fell to the ground exhausted. Kakashi walked over to Naruto and stood there waiting for Naruto to acknowledge his presence and sure enough Naruto looked up almost immediately.

"Naruto, what were you thinking?" Kakashi began, "Going against an order from Tsunade-sama."

Naruto looked back down not wanting to answer that question.

"Seriously," he spoke again, "What would you accomplish coming out here to kill Hiroshi's uncle?"

Naruto finally spoke, "I didn't come out here to kill Totosai."

Hiroshi's eyes widened, he thought Naruto was going to help him out but he lied, killing his uncle was not what Naruto was truly going to do. Naruto, however, noticed the puzzled and betrayed look on his studen's face.

"Well not right away, I wanted answers."

Kakashi seemed to be confused, "Answers for what?"

"Jiraiya told me Totosai would be able to tell me, since he was no longer of the village."

Kakashi eyes widened, _'Jiraiya-sama, what were you thinking?'_

"He told me about my father."

Kakashi sighed and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "You okay?"

"I guess, but it's all so much to take in, being the son of the Yondaime Hokage and he being the same person that sealed it within me." Naruto said.

"Yeah, Minato-sensei was a great man." Kakashi said looking at the sky. Naruto's seemed shock when Kakashi added the _sensei_ to his father's name.

"Sensei? My father was your sensei?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi nodded then sighed, "Come on Naruto, we got to get you back to Hokage-sama."

Naruto cringed in fear, "So, Tsunade-baachan knows?"

"Unfortunately yes, and when we return with you, expect her to be very angry."

Naruto sighed and they began to walk. Naruto noticed Hiroshi wasn't following.

"Hiroshi, come on, we're going." Naruto called out.

Hiroshi was driven out of his slight trace by Naruto's voice, "H-hai, Naruto-sensei."

* * *

**Sorryy about the long awaited update, I've been busy with work and other things but I have returned and until next time, see ya.**


	36. Homecoming

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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**36. Homecoming**

Two figures walked toward the large gate that was the entrance to Konohagakure (Village Hidden in the Leaves). One of them, however, was carrying a sleeping blonde.

Sakura was strolling along heading for the hospital to start her day, she came to the gate and notice that Kakashi along with a kid walking in but soon she saw Kakashi carrying Naruto and quickly rushed over.

"Kakashi-sensei!" she said and he turned his attention to his other former student, "Is Naruto okay? What happened to him? Is he hurt badly?"

"Whoa, hold up there Sakura, let me answer." Kakashi replied. "Naruto's fine, he was just exhausted after a little fight he had."

"Fight?" she asked seemingly confused.

Kakashi sighed, "He'll probably tell you later, but right now I got to get him to Hokage-sama, he's kind of in trouble."

Sakura sighed, "That baka, always getting himself into trouble even now."

Kakashi couldn't help but laugh at that statement but quickly bid farewell and headed for the Hokage tower. Hiroshi was still following.

"Hiroshi, you can go home now."

Hiroshi nodded and began walking a different direction.

* * *

Tsunade continued to file through piles and piles of paper work impatiently waiting for Kakashi and Naruto. It was morning and they still hadn't returned. Shizune noticed her unease but couldn't think of anything to say to at least calm the woman down. Tsunade continued on while thoughts of Naruto becoming a potential missing-nin plagued her mind. Surely she was overeating? Naruto certainly wouldn't ever dream of betraying the village, right? And soon her worries would be put to rest as Kakashi walked through the door with Naruto in tow. A big wave of relief came over her but to be replaced by anger because of the blonde's stupidity. 

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi began, "I managed to find Naruto. Unfortunately he was engaging battle with the leader of the Tatsumaki."

Tsunade sighed, she knew it. Naruto ended up in bigger trouble than what he started.

"Hey baka, wake up!" she yelled hitting Naruto upside the head.

Naruto quickly woke up and began rubbing his head because of the pain.

"Naruto," a stern female voice said breaking Naruto's concentration on the pain at hand.

He looked up and saw Tsuande standing over him with a displeased look on her face. Naruto gulped, he knew what he was in for, but in the end it was worth it seeing how Naruto found out who is father was.

"You better have a good explanation why you went ahead and disobeyed my orders _not_ to go after Totosai."

Naruto rose to her feet, "I do, because apparently this village likes to keep secrets from me."

Tsunade actually flinched at the venom Naruto had in those words, _'Does that mean he…?'_

"Apparently my father was the Yondaime (Fourth) Hokage and not one person in this damned village felt the need to tell me. I had to freakin' find out from a missing-nin!"

'_So he did find out.'_

Tsunade looked sternly at Naruto, "Naruto, it's not our fault. Sarutobi-sensei made the rule not to tell…"

"He's dead, you could have told me then!" interrupted Naruto.

Tsunade sighed, "You're right, we should have told you but that doesn't mean this can't go unpunished."

"What?!" yelled Naruto.

"You did disobey an order of mine so I have to punish you for it." Tsunade said.

Naruto sighed, he couldn't believe this. First he was lied to all his life and now he was being punished because he engaged Konoha's latest threat.

"I'm suspending you from active duty for six months."

"What?!" yelled Naruto again, "Six months? Are you crazy?"

"No, you disobeyed and order. If the council had found out, they'd surely label you as a missing-nin." Tsunade replied.

"Kakashi, you'll be taking over Naruto's team while he's on _vacation_."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"You're dismissed."

Kakashi and Naruto walked out of the Hokage's office. Kakashi was about to speak and Naruto knew so he beat him to the punch.

"I don't want to hear it right now." Naruto said and walked off. All Kakashi could do was sigh and shake his head.

* * *

Hiroshi, Shiro and Himawari were waiting at Team Eleven's usual training area they'd meet at. All three wondered what their sensei wanted today as they knew they had a couple of days off. Soon enough Naruto along with Kakashi appeared before them. 

"Hello, Naruto-sensei, what is it you wanted to talk to us about?" asked Himawari.

"I'm going on a six month vacation," Naruto half lied, "So taking over while I'm not here will be Kakashi-sensei here."

"Yo," he said holding his hand up.

"Hello Kakashi-sensei," Shiro and Himawari said.

"With that said, I'll leave you with him to get aquainted."

After that was said Naruto disappeared and retired to his apartment while he layed on his bed and stared at the ceiling and sighed.

'_Six months of no missions or teaching my students anything. I hope Kakashi-sensei isn't to hard on them.'_

* * *

Naruto stared at the ceiling and let out a bored sigh. Six months of no missions, no training his team, nothing, but the one thing that was on his mind was Totosai's voice echoing 'he was your father' over and over. 

'_I still can't believe they withhold information about my parents like that.'_

Something told him inside to be angry but yet at everyone, yet he wasn't. He still loved the village very much.

'_Still, they should have at least told me.'_

After a few hours of staring at the ceiling and thoughts racing through his head he drifted off into sleep. He awoke to knocking on the door. At first he thought his mind was playing tricks on him so he turned over and tried to go back to sleep until the knocking came again. He groaned and forced himself to get up and slowly walked to the door.

'_The person at the door better have a reason for waking me up,'_ Naruto thought as he sighed.

He reached the door and looked out the peephole only to see a blur of pink. After seeing pink he quickly opened to door to find Sakura on the other side. It was a bit of surprise to him

"S-Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?" he asked getting kind of nervous.

"I came by to see how you were doing," she replied.

"Just a little tired, that's all."

Uncomfortable silence set upon the two as neither didn't know what to say. Naruto was contemplating whether or not to ask her to get some ramen with him or not. He made up his mind but Sakura beat him to the punch.

"So, are you up for ramen? You can talk to me about the mission you, Kakashi-sensei and student went on."

Naruto sighed as she mentioned it. Truth was those two were sent to retrieve him before he got killed which would have been certain have not Kakashi shown up and scared Shinsui off.

"Uh, sure," he said. He was about to leave when he realized he looked like he just got out of bed, which was true to begin with. "Hold on, let me get ready real quick."

Sakura nodded. Naruto let her in and he disappeared into the bathroom to fix himself up. After a few mintues he came back in his usual attire. He didn't fix his hair all that much.

"Alright, I'm ready, let's go!" he said with a sheepish smile.

The two walked toward Ichiraku's in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. They were just enjoying the quiet evening and cool air. Soon enough they reached Ichiraku's and entered it and sat down.

"Ah, there's my favorite customer," the old man behind the counter said.

"Hey old man, one miso ramen please!"

"And for you miss?" asked the old man.

"Same." Sakura replied.

"Alright, two miso ramen coming up," the old man said as he disappeared into the kitchen.

Naruto's smile never left his face as he awaited his hot fresh ramen. Sakura decided to ask him about his previous mission.

"So, what was the mission you, Kakashi-sensei and your student went on that left you so tired?"

Naruto stiffened a bit, he had hoped she had forgotten about that so he wouldn't have to tell her but apparently luck wasn't on his side tonight.

Naruto sighed and began, "Well it wasn't a mission."

Sakura looked confused, "What do you mean not a mission?"

"I went out on my own to find a certain someone."

"Who?" the woman next to Naruto asked.

"A man named Totosai, a member of the Tatsumaki," Naruto answered.

The old man returned from the kitchen with steaming bowls of ramen and placed one bowl by Naruto and one by Sakura. They broke the chop sticks apart, said their phrase and began eating. Naruto hoped Sakura would forget about the whole thing since they got their ramen but luck still wasn't on his side.

"So why'd you got after this Totosai guy?" Sakura finally asked after a long silence.

'_Damn.'_ "I figured out this village was hiding something from me and Jiraiya told me to seek him out, that he'd be able to tell me."

"How did you manage that?" Sakura asked slightly teasing him on his denseness.

Naruto didn't look fazed though, "Because when I fought him back in the Land of Waves, he was holding back, as if he couldn't kill me."

"That would make sense I guess," the pink-haired kunoichi said.

"I tried to get Tsunade-baachan to let me go but she didn't, so I ended up taking matters in my own hands."

Sakura eyes widened, "What?! You disobeyed Tsunade-shishou?"

"I-I had to, I had to know what they were hiding from me because when I asked it was as if they couldn't tell me to my face," Naruto replied.

"So what did you find out?" asked Sakura.

"Once I found Totosai, he told me who my father and mother were," Naruto said with slight sadness in his voice.

"Who were they?" Sakura dared to ask.

Naruto sighed, "My mother's name was Uzumaki Kushina and my father…" he trailed off.

"Who was your father?" Sakura asked.

Naruto quickly finished his ramen and waited for Sakura to finish hers. Once she did Naruto led her outside and started walking. Sakura wasn't going to question him, something was up. Once the mountain with the Hokage's faces was in their view Naruto stopped. He hesitated for a while then he raised his hand.

Naruto pointed to the Yondaime (Fourth) Hokage's face, "He is my father."

To say Sakura was shocked was an understatement. There were no words to explain just how shocked she was. This whole time her teammate was the son of the great Yondaime Hokage. Hell, she could barely comprehend it.

"T-the Yondaime i-is your father?" Sakura asked stuttering in surprise.

"Hai," Naruto replied.

"But why was Kakashi-sensei and one of your students with you when you returned?" asked Sakura getting out of her shocked state.

"Tsunade-baachan sent them to get me back so I wouldn't do anything stupid," he replied.

"Did you?" Sakura asked with a small giggle.

"Not on purpose," Naruto began, "I did get into a fight with the leader of the Tatsumaki, he wanted me to join or basically was forcing me to join."

"What?!" screamed Sakura.

"He forced me into a challenge, if I could beat him then I'd be free. If I lost, then I'd have to join."

Sakura was about to say something but Naruto began talking again, "I would have lost if Kakashi-sensei hadn't came in at the right time. Apparently battling more than one opponent is not his strong suit."

Sakura chuckled, "So much for a great leader of another evil organization."

"Yes, but if he catches you by yourself, you're pretty much done for," Naruto replied.

Naruto started walking Sakura home. Silence returned but the two were content. After about a ten minute walk they had reached Sakura's apartment complex.

"Well here we are once again," Naruto said with a big fox-like grin.

"Yep, well I'll see you later Naruto," Sakura said with a smile.

"Well I'll be around a lot for the next six months," Naruto said basically joking about his six month suspension.

"Why six months?" asked Sakura.

"Well," Naruto began nervously, "Since I disobeyed Tsunade-baachan, it came with a price, I got suspended from active duty for six months."

Sakura just had to laugh, "Baka."

Naruto laughed a bit too, "See you later, Sakura-chan."

"Bye, Naruto."

Sakura watched Naruto as he disappeared into the night.

* * *

Five months and twenty nine days had gone by too slowly for Naruto's liking. He spent most of the days keeping himself in shape and not allow himself dwindle in his abilities. And at least three nights a week he and Sakura went for ramen. Now Naruto was on his final days of suspension and tomorrow he'd return to active duty and he'd return to his team once again. 

Naruto stared at the ceiling on his final day of suspension and spoke to himself, "Finally tomorrow I can return to my team."

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**Another mostly dialouge chapter, but the next chapter will start the next arc. Two major events will take place. The summary of the next arc is now on my profile. Until next time, see ya.**


	37. Naruto's Return and the New Challenge

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**The beginning of the Chunin Exam arc.

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37. Naruto's Return and the New Challenge! 

Hiroshi, Shiro and Himawari waited at the bridge they've been meeting up with their temporary sensei for the past five months and twenty-nine days and of course, he was late, again. Now they new exactly what Naruto was talking about. They were supposed to meet Kakashi at nine and it here it was already ten thirty in the morning.

"Where is Kakashi-sensei?!" yelled Hiroshi.

"Hiroshi, yelling isn't going to bring Kakashi-sensei here any sooner," Shiro said.

"Shiro-kun's right, we all have to be patient," Himawari added.

Hiroshi just replied with a long, frustrated sigh. Ten more minutes had passed and finally Kakashi had shown up.

"Yo," Kakashi said.

"You're late!" yelled Hiroshi.

Kakashi sighed, _'Naruto's personality has definitely rubbing off onto Hiroshi here.'_ "Well guys I have good news, tomorrow you'll meet at your old meeting spot at nine a.m., I have a surprise for you."

"What kind of surprise?" asked Hiroshi.

Kakashi smirked under his mask, "You'll see. Until then, you're dismissed."

With that said, Kakashi disappeared from the meeting place. All three Genin walked home.

* * *

Morning came and Naruto wasn't happier. He got up as fast as he could and got ready quickly as humanly possible. Today was the day he returned to active duty and lead his team once again. Of course he'd have to go see Tsunade to get reinstated then get the missions for his team for the day. He groaned at the part, the whole six months he had been suspended, not once did he see Tsunade. Enough with the trivial things and Naruto ran out of his apartment, almost forgetting to lock the door for the millionth time in his life.

Naruto hopped across the rooftops to get to the Hokage tower as fast as he could. The quicker he got this out of the way, the quicker he could get to his team and begin their missions for the day. Of course it was only eight thirty in the morning, but Naruto didn't care, not today anyway.

Naruto finally reached the Hokage building and quickly climbed up the stairs and entered. He walked toward the Hokage's office. It was still early so he wouldn't go into the mission briefing room. He reached the Hokage's office and stopped dead in his tracks.

'_I bet the old hag is fast asleep on a pile of paperwork.'_ Naruto thought and smiled devilishly as he thought of cruel ways to wake her up without getting knocked throw a wall himself.

Naruto entered the office and to his surprise, Tsunade wasn't asleep, she was actually working on paper work, in fact she looked like she just woke up from a good nights sleep which was rare sight to see. Naruto finally decided to make his presence known so he said the one word that irritated her the most.

"Hey, Tsuande-baachan!" he yelled with great enthusiasm.

Tsuande looked up and sure enough, the familiar voice that belonged to Naruto was standing in front of her desk with a huge dumb grin on his face.

"Has it been six months already?" joked Tsunade though Naruto didn't get it.

"Yep!" he yelled happily.

Tsuande sighed, "Alright, just sign this paper."

Naruto signed the paper and handed it back to Tsuande. Tsunade in turn handed a mission report to Naruto.

"Kakashi told your team to meet at the their old meeting spot at nine. That's their mission for today."

"Hai, Tsunade-baachan."

Tsunade sighed and began rubbing her temples, "How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?"

"So many I lost count," Naruto replied and left the Hokage's office.

'_He's going to be the death of me.'_

* * *

Naruto was heading to his team's meeting spot when Kakashi appeared before him.

"Yo, Naruto," he said.

"Oh, hey Kakashi-sensei, what's up?"

"About your team, you did a good job in leading them. Their teamwork is great and they have great abilities." Kakashi said.

Naruto chuckled, "Thanks Kakashi-sensei."

"The Chunin exams are coming up shortly, you should enter your team."

"Really? You think they're ready for that?" asked Naruto.

Kakashi eye smiled, "Yeah, I think they're ready.

* * *

The old training ground where Team Eleven would meet up with their sensei, Naruto. Team Eleven waited for Kakashi once again knowing full well they'd be there until ten or later. What they weren't ready for was the surprise they were about to receive. The three had their backs turn as Naruto appeared behind them on of the wooden poles.

"Hey guys!" Naruto yelled happily.

His team quickly turned around and all three of his students had shocked looks on their faces.

"N-Naruto-sensei?" questioned Himawari.

"Yep, I am back!" Naruto said with a thumbs up.

"Alright, Naruto-sensei's back!" happily yelled Hiroshi.

"Good to have you back, Naruto-sensei," said Shiro.

"And it's great to be back," Naruto said with a fox-like grin. "Alright, I'm back and already we have a mission."

Their mission was a simple task, clean up the training grounds of all the trash. Naruto chuckled at their faces when he told them and sat himself comfortably on a tree branch as he watched his three students do the work. They all had displeased looks on their faces so Naruto decided to try and lighten the mood.

"If you guys do a good job, I'll treat you all to ramen today," Naruto said and hoped that worked.

That did the trick, they're sour faces turned into determined ones as they cleaned the training grounds of all the cans and other trash left by people who previously used it.

Afternoon finally came; it took about four hours for Team Eleven to clean the garbage off the training grounds. The Genin were worn out and just lying in the grass just resting. Naruto had dozed off about an hour before they had finished but woke up to find them lying in the grass with the training grounds clean of all the trash. Naruto jumped out of the tree and walked over to his three students. He stood over them to where they could see his face. They all looked at him and smiled.

"You guys did a great job, so how about that ramen now?" he asked.

Instantly all three got up, "Hai, Naruto-sensei," they all said in unison.

"That's the spirit, come on let's go!" Naruto said and his team followed.

They didn't get very far when Naruto noticed a bird circling around and gawking.

'_What does she want now?'_

Naruto turned to his students, "Looks like the Hokage is calling me," he pointed to the bird circling overhead. "So wait for me back at the training grounds, okay?"

His students nodded.

"I'll be back as quick as I can."

(page break)

Naruto entered one of the massive meeting rooms to find a bunch more of Jounin's in the room.

'_So I guess I'm not the only one.'_

Tsuande walked in, "Will the Jounin for the rookie Genin teams come up front."

Naruto walked up front and was joined by Sakura and Kiba. Kiba's eyes widened when he saw Naruto, he didn't remember seeing Naruto when they got assigned teams.

"Hey Naruto," began Kiba, "Why are you here? I didn't see you at the meeting about getting teams."

Naruto didn't feel like arguing with Kiba today, "I was there," was all he replied with. Tsunade cleared he throat and begin.

"You should know why you're here," the Hokage began, "In one week the Chunin Exams will begin once again. So starting with the rookie, are they're any on your teams you'd recommend?"

Naruto stepped forward, "Uzumaki Naruto, leader of Team Eleven, Kurosaki Hiroshi, Kubo Himawari, and Suzuki Shiro, I recommend all three for the Chunin Exams."

Sakura stepped forward, "Haruno Sakura, leader of Team Twelve, Botsuraku Aki, Kamizuki Ankoku, and Borakku Shinji, I recommend all three for the Chunin Exams."

Kiba stepped forward, "Inuzuka Kiba, leader of Team Ten, Hakuhen Yuki, Mizuumi Bokura, and Kokoro Sai, I recommend all three for the Chunin Exams."

"Very well then, all the rest, if you think your students are ready step forward now," Tsuande said.

* * *

It had been an hour and a half since Naruto left for the Hokage tower. They were getting impatient and hungry. They wanted their ramen and the cursed the Hokage for taking their sensei away just before he was going to buy them ramen. Naruto finally appeared in front of them.

"Sorry about the wait, the meeting went on longer than I was expecting," Naruto replied.

"Finally, let's go get our ramen now!" yelled Hiroshi.

"Hold it kid, I got something important to tell you first," Naruto stated.

"What is it, Naruto-sensei?" asked Himawari.

"I recommended all three of you to take the Chunin Exam," Naruto said with a smile.

"Really, you did?" Hiroshi asked with excitement.

"Hai, I did. Here are your entry forms," Naruto replied handing all three their entry forms.

"Are you sure you think we're ready?" asked Shiro.

"If I didn't think you guys were ready, I wouldn't have entered you guys in the first place," Naruto lied, _'Jeez, I hope they don't find out Kakashi-sensei told me to recommend them.'_ "Well anyway, you're to meet in room 301 at the academy at three pm one week from today.

"Cool." Hiroshi said.

"Now how about that ramen?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah!" all three yelled in unison.

Naruto led the way to Ichiraku's. Once they go there he order four bowls of miso ramen and they ate. Soon evening came and Team Eleven went home.

Naruto walked back to his apartment, _'I get back on duty and now I'll have nothing to do for a while again. Oh well, this will test how far they can go.'_

* * *

In a dim lit place a gathering of nine people surrounding a tenth person were there. A meeting just had taken place and it just adjourned and the people began leaving expect for five of them. Two of them walked toward a door and waited while three stayed behind and waited.

"Akuma, Sumi," a man spoke.

"Hai, Totosai-sama?" the two said in unsion.

"I have a little mission for you," Totosai replied.

"What is it?" asked Akuma.

"I've entered Sumi, and two other of children spies into Konoha's upcoming Chunin Exam as Ame-nins (Rain-nins). Akuma you will act as their sensei."

"But what's the actual mission?" Akuma asked.

"Well it's technically Sumi's mission," Totosai replied and looked at Sumi. "Sumi, I want you and your team to kill Hiroshi and his team."

"Why?" asked Sumi.

"They just might get in the way of our organization, especially with Naruto as their sensei."

"Very well, we shall complete that mission," the child said.

"Good, now get going. The exam starts in one week. Just make sure you stay out of their sights."

"Hai, Totosai-sama."

The small meeting adjourned and the three men exited different ways.

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**Two updates in one day, means I had nothing to do today for once. I'll probably update again tomorrow until then, see ya.**


	38. The Test Begins!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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38. The Test Begins! 

A full week went flying by for Hiroshi. He noticed people from other village started showing up signifying the Chunin Exams indeed were about to begin. He noticed the different headbands these foreigners wore and was surprised just how many different ones he did see. He woke up excited as ever, today was the day he and his team would begin the Chunin Exams. He was ready to beat down anyone that got in his way. Yes, he was going to make sure he becomes a Chunin. He looked at the clock and it was only ten in the morning, so 5 more hours until the exams began. He went to the bathroom, showered and changed. As he passed his brother's room, he could hear loud snoring, indicating he had just returned home the night before from some long assassination mission. Hiroshi found himself in the kitchen looking for any kind of sustenance to fill his growling stomach. He settled on a few pieces of toast. After eating his breakfast, Hiroshi decided to go out back to practice his Kage Bunshin, trying any kind of combos to come up with the ultimate Kurosaki Hiroshi Rendan. Sure the Rendan he used back when he fought Sumi for the second time was great and all; it still wasn't as cool as Naruto's. He wanted to create his own, even cooler than his sensei's. After blowing two and half hours on that, he smirked. He thought he created one cooler than his sensei's. Hiroshi returned inside to eat lunch and looked a the clock, now only two and half hours until the exam began.

* * *

Two hours had finally passed and Hiroshi was more eager than ever. He was growing impatient and wanted to start the exam right now. He couldn't take it anymore so he decided to leave house thirty minutes early. Hiroshi reached the training grounds and waited for Shiro and Himawari to show up.

Twenty minutes slowly ticked by when Himawari finally showed up.

"Hey Hiroshi-kun, been waiting long?" she asked.

"Oh, Hey Himawari-chan, yeah I've been here for about twenty minutes." Hiroshi replied.

It wasn't too long before Shiro showed up. With the whole team there, they nodded to each other and headed for the academy.

* * *

The academy, it was crammed with ninja from all over the place taking the Chunin Exams. Hiroshi was starting to feel a little intimidated; some of the ninja looked mean as if they'd kill without question. Himawari was scared as well; she hadn't seen so many evil looking people in all her life. The scariest person she met in her life was that Tatsumaki woman she accidentally killed by blowing up a rafter. Actually, it wasn't much of an accident; it was more like a fluke. Shiro, however, wasn't fazed much. Hell, nothing really scared the quiet kid much.

Hiroshi swallowed his fear and led his team inside the academy and climbed all the way to the third floor. They reached room 301, they were about to enter when Naruto appeared before them.

Naruto grin grew large, "I see all three decided to show up."

"Yep, we're ready to take this challenge head on, Naruto-sensei!" Hiroshi said with pride.

"I'm glad to here it, you kick butt guys, I'll see you later," he said and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Alright guys, let's enter!" Hiroshi yelled and the three of them entered the large room.

The room was packed with Genin from villages all around. Of course Hiroshi started feeling his fear again when almost everyone in that room were staring at them as if they were going to kill them sooner or later. Himawari and Shiro got the same vibe though Shiro wasn't fazed by it all as usual.

But three with Awe (rain) symbols on their forehead protectors watched Hiroshi and his team intently, more so than anyone else in the room.

A man wearing a bandana completely over his head with the Leaf symbol plate on his forehead and wearing a long blue trench coat that coving his grey ninja attire entered the room.

"All right, all of you shut up, the test is about to begin," he began, "My name is Morino Ibiki, and I'll be your proctor for the first portion of the Chunin Exam."

Everyone was listening intently at Ibiki as he made his introduction.

"Each of you will be given a number and that will determine where you sit."

The other Leaf Jounin that were present in the room handed out pieces of papers to all the Genin in the room. It took twenty minutes to have everyone seated.

"Now that were all settled, this first test will test your knowledge," Ibiki began, "You'll have thirty minutes to answer all nine of these questions, at the end you'll be given a tenth question."

Ibiki then started passing out test papers to all the Genin in the room. Once he returned to the front of the classroom he turned and faced the class once again.

"Passing will be decided on a team score. But even if one of your teammates gets a zero, the whole team fails."

Gasps filled the room.

"So even if your other teammates scores high enough to pass, that one zero will automatically fail you."

Mumbles of 'not fair' and 'this is bull' was heard.

"Also, cheating will not be tolerated. Points will be deducted from your team's score if you're caught. If you're caught five times, you and your team will automatically fail. So, are there any questions?"

People shook their heads no.

"You have thirty minutes, begin!"

All the Genin began the written test. Hiroshi started reading the problems on the paper, his face turned sour, they were super hard. There is no way in hell he'd get _any_ of these questions right. Hell, there's no way he'd even write anything down. He just stared at the paper for about ten minutes when something hit him.

'_Wait a minute, if cheating is such a big deal, then how come you only get points taking off your final score. Wouldn't they just automatically fail you after they catch you the first time?'_

Himawari took a look at the test and smirked, she'd never let anyone know she actually knew the answers to these problems. Truth be told, she was really smart, she just didn't show it so she wouldn't be made fun of for being a bookworm.

Shiro just stared at the paper, for once Shiro was intimidated by a piece of paper with nine problems he had no idea how to solve. The same kind of thought that Hiroshi had finally broke it's way to Shiro's mind.

All the other Genin were starting to catch on, in order to pass you would have to cheat after all, only don't get caught.

Shiro used his chakra weapon jutsu to carefully mold chakra to a person ahead of him to guide his own hand to write down the answers.

Hiroshi created a Kage Bunshin (Shadow Replication) underneath the table and quickly did a Henge (Transformation) and turned it into a shuriken. He threw it without being noticed at the wall behind the other spectators watching for cheaters, hoping one would have the answers. Hiroshi undid the Henge with another Henge to make it look like another spectator. Luckily for Hiroshi, no one noticed. The replication looked over and indeed one had the answers and started memorizing it. Hiroshi waited for about ten minutes and the replication dispersed itself and all the information rushed to Hiroshi. He smirked and began to write down all that he learned.

During that ordeal, numbers were being called out left and right.

"Number 13, 48, 62, you fail!" yelled one spectator.

"Number 20, 82, 100, you fail!" yelled another.

Numbers were being called left and right until eighty-four people remained. Ibiki looked across the room, _'Hmm, there's a lot of them this year.'_

"Alright, time is up." Ibiki said.

All the Genin stopped writing and put their full attention on Ibiki.

"Now it's time for the tenth question," he began, "However, you have the choice to take it or not."

"We have a choice?" asked a Genin in the room.

"Yes, if you choose not to take it, you and your team will fail but you'll be able to take the test again next time. However, if you decide to answer the tenth question and get it wrong, you and your team will fail and never be allowed to take the Chunin Exams again and you'll be stuck as Genin forever!"

Everyone in the room gasped in shock at this revelation. Hiroshi was now doubting himself, if he got it wrong, he'd let his whole team down and they'd all be Genin for the rest of their ninja careers.

"So if you want to bail out, now's the time to do so." Ibiki said.

He waited for people to start raising their hands. Sure enough a few them raised their hand.

"Alright, Number 50, 68 and 109 fail!"

"Numbers 21, 110 and 281 fail!"

But there was still a lot of Genin's left, seventy-four to be exact.

'_There's still too many left. This must be a great bunch.'_

"Alright, do anymore want out?" asked Ibiki.

Everyone that was there stood their ground, they were ready to take on this tenth question. Hell, they were ready for anything.

"Alright, the tenth question is," Ibiki paused.

Hiroshi's heart began to pound as he waited for the final question that could make him or break him right here on the spot. Sweat was becoming visible as he began to get nervous.

"There is no tenth question." Ibiki finished.

Every Genin's face turned sour, as if they had just smelled shit.

"What the hell do you mean there's no tenth question?" yelled Hiroshi.

"Simple, this test was designed to test your information gathering abilities. Why did you think the questions were so damn hard? It was like you had to cheat when in fact you were supposed to." Ibiki replied.

Hiroshi nodded in acknowledgement.

"You all pass. The next phase of the exam will take place at the 44 battle zone, or the Forest of Death."

Suddenly the door was kicked opened and a woman with purple hair tied up wearing a beige coat over fishnet, and a beige skirt with fishnet underneath was at it.

Ibiki sighed, "Anko, you're early again."

Anko just grinned evilly, "Alright you maggots, you're coming with me."

* * *

All the Genin that passed the first stage of the exam were lined up in front of a gated forest. Some looked very scared of even thinking of going into that hell hole. Hiroshi gulped, he was scared of going into that darkened place.

Once again, way in the back, the group of Awe-nins watched Hiroshi's team intently not keeping their eyes off of them at once, two of the smirked while one just kept to himself while still watching.

**Flashback**

_Three Awe-nins reached the gates of Konohagakure as their sensei looked down at them._

"_Sumi, you know your mission, kill the brats that serve under Uzumaki Naruto," said the sensei._

"_Akuma-san, what are you going to do?" asked Sumi._

"_Me? I'm going to find Uzumaki Naruto myself and kill him. Once I find information on his team, I'll let him follow me and let him hear me talk to you about the mission, and before he can go rescue his team or tell anyone, I'll fight him and kill Naruto myself."_

**End of Flashback.**

The Awe-nin sighed; he was getting into deep with this. _'I must do this mission so they can know.'_


	39. Enter the Forest of Death!

**Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto

* * *

**

39. Enter The Forest of Death!

**Earlier, before the first exam began:**

Naruto was headed for the academy so he could wish his team a final good luck before they'd be on their own for five days, if they get past the first exam that is. While he was walking he noticed a team of Awe-nins talking amongst themselves. Naruto wouldn't have eavesdropped if it wasn't for one thing, he noticed the Awe-nins sensei had tan colored eyes, those eyes looked damned familiar so he hid close by and heard the last parts of their conversations.

"Remember, you are to engage the brats in the Forest of Death, if they make it that far. If they don't, you quit the first stage and ambush them directly."

"Hai, Shinjo-sensei," replied one of the Awe-nins.

'_That kid, he looks oddly familiar.'_ Naruto thought as he watched and listened.

"Here's the info on your targets: Kurosaki Hiroshi, Kubo Himawari and Suzuki Shiro. You kill them and I'll take out their sensei," Shinjo reminded them.

Naruto's eyes widened, why were Awe-nins trying to take out his team? What did they ever do to Awegakure (Village Hidden in the Rain)?

"Aku-uh I mean Shinjo-sensei, do we really have to do this?"

"Of course, our organization's survival depends on this," Shinjo replied.

Naruto eyes widened, he finally figured out who the tan eyes belonged to by the kids almost mention of his name.

'_Akuma, that sand guy Kakashi-sensei fought back in the Land of Waves. I have to eliminate him and then tell the Forest of Death proctor.'_

Naruto quickly made a Kage Bunshin to instead meet up with his team to wish them good luck, he wasn't going to alert them about Tatsumaki's plan just yet so they'd be free from worry during the first test.

'_I should just warn Tsunade-baachan, but I get the feeling this was a set up to get my attention, and damned if it didn't work.'_

The kids disguised as Awe-nins went off towards the academy while Akuma stayed behind and smirked and turned towards the trees in which Naruto was currently hiding.

"Come out, Uzumaki Naruto. I know you're there!" Akuma shouted.

In hiding Naruto sighed, _'I knew it; I can't believe I fell for it.'_

Shortly after Akuma's yelling, he was forced to dodge several shuriken that was thrown at him. Naruto then appeared in a tree branch just above Akuma.

"Looks like it's my turn to fight you," Naruto said. "But unlike Kakashi-sensei, I will kill you."

"Bring it, you'll never get passed my sand," taunted Akuma.

Naruto then disappeared and reappeared behind Akuma and kicked him hard in the back causing Akuma to stumble forward, losing his balance and hitting the ground face first.

"You were saying?" Naruto taunted back.

Akuma gritted his teeth and quickly got up, the fight had begun.

* * *

**Present, at the Forest of Death:**

All seventy-four Genin that were left were standing, awaiting further instructions from the proctor Anko. They'd been standing for there nearly ten minutes in silence. Finally Anko decided to speak up.

"Alright maggots, listen up. Welcome to the 44th Training Battle Zone, or what we like to call the Forest of Death," Anko finished with a evil grin.

Anko then held up two scrolls, "Your objective is for your team to get either a Heaven scroll or an Earth scroll. The first teams to bring back both scrolls to the tower that is located in the middle of the forest within the five day limit will move on. The rest will fail."

Some of the Genins gulped while others had determination burning in their eyes. Hiroshi and his team was one of them new determination sparked within them.

"And whatever you do, do not open the scroll until you get to the tower." Anko added.

"And why not?" asked a Grass Genin.

"Trust me, you don't want to open it." Anko said with intimidation.

"First of, I want you all to sign these insurance forms," Anko said handing a pile of papers to a Genin who handed them off.

"What's this for?" asked another random Genin.

"To make sure we're not liable if you just happen to _die._" Anko replied.

The last part of that answer sent chills down the spines of some of the Genin. Hiroshi was slightly affected, but he wouldn't let death scare him, he was going to become Chunin by the end of this examination. He smirked and signed the forms as well as Shiro and Himawari.

"After you signed your forms, come up to the table and get your scroll. Half of you will receive a Heaven scroll the other half will receive the Earth scroll. After you receive your scroll you'll be given a number and that number will take you to a gate in which you will enter the Forest of Death," Anko continued explaining.

Hiroshi, Shiro and Himawari went to the enclosed booth and turned in their signed forms and in turn they were given the Earth scroll. They were given a number and proceeded to find Gate twelve.

* * *

Naruto was breathing heavily, he was having a hard time dodging all the sand attacks Akuma created, and of course Naruto's attacks weren't getting through to Akuma. He'd use his sand to defend himself. Naruto had managed to almost penetrate a wall of sand he created as a shield with the Rasengan, but he came up short. Naruto had a couple of wounds on his torso that had healed quickly, all remained was a light scar and dried blood and the tears on his clothing. 

"I thought you were going to kill me, oh great Uzumaki Naruto."

"I get it now, Totosai order you to kill me, didn't he?" asked Naruto dodging another sand projectile.

"Not really, I decided to take it in to my own hands, maybe Leader will see how great I am and replace Totosai or his brother from leadership." Akuma replied.

Naruto didn't chose to answer, his question distracted Akuma as he was now surrounded by Kage Bunshins. Three of them kicked Akuma high into the air and two more crashed down on Akuma's face with their fists. Akuma came spiraling down to the ground and hit the ground hard as humanly possible. Now his body laid there, motionless as a puddle of blood began to form all around Akuma's head, but Naruto wasn't fooled so he did a hand seal.

"Kai (release)!" Naruto yelled.

Akuma's dead body disappeared, it turned out it was a Genjutsu.

'_Clever, he casted a Genjutsu on me while I was busy focusing on that Rendan.'_

"Impressive, you managed to see right through my Genjutsu," Akuma's voice rained the battlefield.

Naruto clenched his fists and was hit by sand projectiles. Naruto slid across the ground as his back slammed into a tree that was nearby. He then sank to the ground as pain rushed through his body from the contact of the tree. Akuma then appeared with his created sand swirling around him.

"This is it Uzumaki Naruto, your death," he said holding up his hands in a seal.

"Suna Yari (Sand Spear)!"

The swirling sand turned into sharp spears and one movement from Akuma's hand, the sand spears quickly attacked Naruto. Naruto shut his eyes and awaited his painful death, however after a few minutes, the pain never came. Naruto slowly opened his eyes and saw the spears had stopped just before they had pierced his body. Akuma's eyes widened and looked up in the trees and saw a figure standing.

"W-what the hell?" the Tatsumaki member said to no one in particular.

* * *

Hiroshi, Shiro and Himawari waited at the gate, they were to begin exactly at four thirty. The time was now four twenty-nine. The shinobi that were at each gate had unlocked the chain about four minutes before and were awaiting the final single. Finally the clock struck four thirty and the an alarm went off and the gates open. 

"Begin!" yelled Anko.

All the Genin teams rushed into the Forest of Death with one thing in mind, victory.

"Alright, we all know the target, let's find them quickly and eliminate them," said Sumi in his Awe disguise.

"Hai," the other two said as they rushed into the forest.

* * *

Tsuande was in her office, just for the few days before she would go to the tower in the Forest of Death when Jiraiya appeared. She did not know he had came into the office as she was too busy doing paperwork. 

"Tsunade?" questioned Jiraiya.

"Huh, oh Jiraiya, what are you doing here?" she asked looking up.

"I came with a bit of news from my spy." Jiraiya said, cutting to the point.

"I'm all ears," replied Tsunade.

* * *

"Who are you?" asked Akuma. 

"None of your business," replied a quiet but intimidating voice. Naruto looked up above him and saw the red haired man with the symbol for 'love' tattooed on the left side of his forehead, wearing his white Kazekage robe over his black trench coat. Naruto couldn't believe who was there.

"G-Gaara?"

"Hello again, Uzumaki Naruto," Gaara greeted.

"What are you doing here?" the surprised blonde ninja asked.

"To witness the Chunin Exams of course, but I saw you were in trouble with this traitor so I came to help," Gaara said, more than he would normally.

"How'd you stop my sand attack?" Akuma asked, "All you did was move your hand."

"I can control sand," was the Kazekage's answer.

With one movement of Gaara's hand, the sand spears that were originally controlled by Akuma were turned around to face him. With another movement of his hand, the spears now attacked Akuma. Akuma tried to dodge them, but Gaara was able to guide them. Akuma was in the air, he had no where to go and the spears all went through Akuma. He screamed in pain as blood rained onto the ground below. He fell to the ground hard; he tried to get up but only managed to get up on his knees. His vision was getting blurry as he was losing too much blood. Where Akuma was now, a puddle of blood was growing and growing. Gaara thought it was time to get rid of this scum so Gaara began to control the sand Akuma created as it wrapped around the Tatsumaki member.

"Sabaku Toburai (Desert Burial)." Gaara said as he squeezed his hand.

The sand around Akuma tightened around him and turned into spikes, blood started dripping out of the sand, and what was left of the body was not moving, indicating he was dead.

The pain in Naruto's back had finally resided and was able to slowly get up. He rubbed the back of his head out of habit.

"Thanks, you really saved my ass." Naruto said with a grin.

"No problem." Gaara said as the two shook hands once again.

* * *

"Well we've been in this forest for twenty minutes and yet to have run into anybody," Hiroshi complained. 

As soon as Hiroshi got into the Forest of Death he wanted to fight and he wanted to do it with pride as well as quickly get the Heaven scroll so they could be one of the firsts to reach the tower where they were supposed to meet.

"Quit complaining, we'll find someone with Heaven scroll sooner or later." Shiro said, trying to shut Hiroshi up.

They heard rustling in the bushes nearby and they quickly leapt into action and hid in the bushes. They waited and watched and three Grass Genin came walking out chattering.

"Alright Niwa-chan and Ki, the next team we ambush, we make sure they have the earth scroll."

That was all Hiroshi and his team needed to hear, they had the scroll they needed.

"Alright guys," Hiroshi whispered, "Let's ambush them and get their scroll that way we can quickly get to the tower and be down with this phase of the exam."

"What do you plan we do, Hiroshi-kun?" asked Himawari in a whispered voice.

Hiroshi smirked and took out some wire, "I decided I'd use this I found in my fathers room for a change."

"What is it for?" asked Shiro.

"I don't really know, but I saw my father use it with Shuriken once," Hiroshi replied.

Nothing else needed to be said as they jumped into action.

The three Grass Genin were continue walking, in a 'I'm a target' way. Four shuriken shot out of a tree nearby. At firs the Grass-nins thought whoever threw them had really crappy aim because they were unaware of the thin wire that was tied to those shuriken. That was what caught the Grass-nin by surprise as they were dragged into a try. The wire wrapping around them a couple more times until the four shuriken impaled themselves into the tree. Right after three kunai were thrown each hitting the tree right before each Grass-nins head.

Hiroshi came out of the hiding and had his first evil smirked since becoming a ninja. This part of the exam was pretty fun.

* * *

"Are you sure they're a target?" asked a seemingly upset Tsunade. 

"Hai, he's planning on killing his teammates and telling the truth to Hiroshi and make it look as if they had failed."

"What about Naruto, what if he's faced with the Sunaarashi heir?" asked a now worried Tsunade.

"I asked the Kazekage to give assistance to Naruto since he was going to be here for the Chunin Exams anyway, he was glad to be of assistance to Naruto," Jiraiya replied.

Soon the doors opened and Gaara entered with a very tired Naruto,

"He's been taken care of, Jiraiya-sama." Gaara stated.

"And Naruto, don't worry about your team."

"Why not?!" yelled Naruto.

"Because the spy I have in the Tatsumaki is…"

* * *

**Another day with two updates, I'm on a roll. I'll probably add another update tomorrow.**


	40. Fight in the Forest! Retrieve the Scroll

**Dislcaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**

40. Fight in the Forest! Retrieve the Scroll! 

Naruto looked at Jiraiya then back at Tsunade who gave a 'he's telling the truth' type of nod. Naruto looked back at Jiraiya.

"You mean this whole time he…" Naruto began but was cut off.

"Hai," was all Jiraiya said.

"Ero-sennin, why in the hell would you allow something like that?!" yelled Naruto.

"It was his choice," replied the Sannin.

Naruto wasn't going to argue about it anymore but looked at the old Sannin one last night, "Even though I never really showed it, I respected you, but this…"

Naruto couldn't even finish the sentence and left the Hokage's office. He could not believe Jiraiya would have done something like that.

Tsuande sighed, "I can see how Naruto's mad, Sumi is only a child and you let him be a spy for you to get information about Tatsumaki's plans."

"Sumi was an Awe orphan; he wanted to be of use to someone. He wanted to be a spy for me."

"I still don't approve of it myself, but what's done is done," Tsunade admitted.

"I'm going to go talk to Naruto, I already explained it to you anyways." Jiraiya said leaving the office.

* * *

Naruto was walking along the streets of Konoha, ignoring everyone and everything. Thoughts about what he was told still stung in his mind.

'_I can't believe that old pervet is using a mere child to gather information on Tatsumaki, man that is so low.'_

Naruto stopped as he sat on top of the Yondaime's head that was carved into the mountain overlooking Konoha. Naruto always poked at and hated Jiraiya's perverted habits yet he still respected him nonetheless, but Naruto couldn't grasp this around his mind.

Naruto was too lost in his thoughts to notice Jiraiya had come up behind him. He stared at the blonde-haired ninja and sighed.

"Naruto," came the voice of the Sannin pervert.

The voice drove Naruto out of his thought trance and he looked back to find the very man he was mad at.

"What do you want, Ero-sennin?" asked Naruto in a harsh voice.

"Listen Naruto, I know you're mad at me at this decision I have made, but you got to understand, Sumi is a smart kid. They have no idea he's been telling their plans to us for the last few months."

"Yeah, well how the hell do you know that?!" yelled Naruto once again.

"Because, the members of the organization are too busy to really focus on Sumi and the other few orphan children they took in."

"Why do those bastards have other children as well?" asked Naruto.

"Even I don't know that answer and neither did Sumi when I asked him," the pervert replied. "Back to the point, Sumi is a smart kid. He knows how to fool them, and in the Forest of Death, he will fight your team, but only for a little while, when they show exhaustion as if they had a hard fight. Sumi will have to kill the other two he's with and he'll have you injure him greatly to make it seem as if they had failed in the mission."

"What?! Killing a child…" Naruto began yelling but was quickly cut off.

"You have to remember, those kids might grow up to become members of Tatsumaki, and the adults in it now are very skilled, Sumi is on our side. In fact, I instated him as a Konoha ninja about three months ago."

Naruto started to feel better about the situation but it still wasn't right to kill the other two kids, "Well I guess it's okay then, but I still won't except the fact he'll have to kill the other two kids because they could be potential enemies later in life, they're just kids after all."

Jiraiya sighed, memories of the orphans he took back in Awegakure during the Great Shinobi War flooded his mind.

"I felt like that once when I found three orphans in Awekagure during the Great Shinobi War," Jiraiya stated. "Orochimaru wanted us to kill them, but I ended up taking them to train, but guess where that led?"

"Where?" wondered Naruto.

"One started the Akatsuki," Jiraiya answered.

Naruto quickly understood what Jiraiya was getting at.

"I see now," Naruto said.

* * *

Three Grass-nins were tied to the tree and were scared shitless of the three Konoha-nins in front of them. Their sensei told them if they wanted to pass second portion of the exam, then they'd stay clear of Konoha-nins. They though their sensei was stupid since they'd need to get a scroll, so they believed they could take on Konoha Shinobi, but boy were they wrong because now they're tied to a tree; the ones that tied them to the tree was none other than Konoha-nin.

'_I should have listened to Sensei,'_ one of the Grass-nins thought.

"Hand over your scroll," demanded Hiroshi.

"Never," said the Grass-nin in the middle.

All three were wearing green robes and straw hats. The one in the middle had a metal plate with their village symbol on his hat.

"I guess I'll have to grab it myself," said Shiro.

Hiroshi and Himawari stepped back and let Shiro do the work. Shiro did a few hand seals, once he was finished chakra bursted out from Shiro.

The Grass-nins eyes widened as they watched the clearly visible chakra come from Shiro.

"H-h-hey, his chakra just became visible!" panicked Ki.

Shiro focused and molded his chakra too look like a hand. Now the tied up ninja went from fear to confusion in just a split second. The one on the right wanted to start laughing because he was scared for nothing. Shiro noticed this and smirked; he took his chakra hand and slapped all three tied to the tree. Their looks were quickly wiped from their face. That'll teach them. Now the chakra hand began searching their pockets.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing you pervert?" screamed Niwa as the chakra hand searched her pockets.

Shiro smirked as the hand found what it was looking for, the Earth scroll, "Found it."

The chakra hand brought the Earth scroll over to Shiro and he gladly took it.

"Thanks for the scoll," said Hiroshi with a smile and walked up to the three Grass Genin, he then did a hand seal, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Replication Technique)!"

Two copies of Hiroshi appeared, each Hiroshi was in front of one of the Grass-nins, and the Hiroshi's quickly knocked the three Grass Genin unconscious.

"Alright then, we got the scroll, now let's get to the tower as fast as we can."

"Hai, right behind you Hiroshi-kun," Himawari replied.

Shiro just nodded and the three took to the trees so they could get to the tower as fast as they could.

* * *

Three cloaked figures walked through the plains as they approached a small nearby port. The country was small and neutral to all of the Five Great Shinobi Nations.

"Shinsui-niichan? What exactly are we going to Kirigakure (Village Hidden in the Mist) for anyway?" asked the cloaked man on the left.

"Well Ototo, we need to get those shipments in from the west, but we need a port. I'm going to see if I can get Kirigakure to let us use theirs for a month by giving them fake information."

"You didn't tell him?" asked the other cloaked man on the right.

"No Totosai-san, if I did, he would have told anyone he fought. He did inform Konohagakure about our plans anyway, but I should be grateful since he did pose as me when fighting at the Valley of the End." answered the one in the middle.

"Actually, that was my idea," stated Totosai.

"Hey, you said you wouldn't tell!" yelled the man on the left.

"Calm down Hayase, it doesn't matter whose idea it was, the fact of the matter is they think the leader of us is a push over, so they'll underestimate us."

"Hey, Shinsui-niichan, what information you going to give Kiri to use their ports?" asked Hayase.

"That Konoha is planning an invasion on Kiri."

* * *

The sun had finally setted as the first day of the Chunin Exam comes to an end. Hiroshi and his team managed to find the Earth scroll the first day they were out and had begun to head for the tower in the middle of the forest. Scared to travel at night; the three decided to camp in a large hole at the base of a tree, well hidden from anyone's sight. Each took a shift to keep watch as the others slept. Soon day two of the Forest of Death portion of the Chunin Exam had begun. Hiroshi knew they were getting closer to the tower, and they'd definitely get their today. The three began jumping through the trees at top ninja speed so they'd get to the tower as quick as possible, reason? So they don't have to spend another night in this scary ass freaking forest they called Hell. They didn't get very far when something grabbed Himawari's ankle and yanked her out of their formation, Hiroshi and Shiro didn't notice until they heard a scream. They both turned around and noticed she was not with them.

"That was Himawari-chan!" panicked Hiroshi.

"We got to go back," Shiro added.

They quickly headed back, they didn't get far when they saw Himawari tied to a tree and three ninja standing around her. Hiroshi quickly noticed their clothing; it was the Grass-nins they ambushed yesterday.

'_It's them again, damn it,'_ mentally cursed Hiroshi.

Shiro didn't waste time, he quickly did a few hand seals and chakra burst out of Shiro. He molded it all into shuriken and kunai.

"Chakra Shuriken," Shiro said quietly and did another hand seal and the shuriken made of chakra took off.

The three ninja that had Himawari captive were not expecting it, but they were not the target; the rope that had tied the Team Eleven teammate was the target. The shuriken quickly cut through the thin rope and freed Himawari.

"Himawari-chan, use that new jutsu now!" yelled Hiroshi.

She did not waste any time, Himawari quickly went through hand seals, "Suiton: Tsunami Uzumaki! (Water Release: Tidal Wave Whirlpool)!"

A massive tidal wave came out a no where and slammed into the three Grass-nin, but the attack was far from over, after being hit by the tidal wave, the water began to rotate creating a massive whirlpool they were trapped in. They certain thought they'd drown before the attack ended but on the edge of that suffocation, the attack stopped and they'd started gasping for air.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" a voice yelled but nothing happened, yet.

Shortly after that callout, several bunshins of Hiroshi appeared around the Grass Genin. After a small stare down, the replications of Hiroshi attacked; they kicked all three Genin into the air. Once they got to the highest point before falling back to the earth, several more of Hiroshi's replications jumped out of a tree nearby and swift kicked the Genin toward the right. Just before the Grass Shinobi hit the tree across the opening, more replications fists connected with their heads, causing them to fall fast towards the ground. They thought they'd meet more of Hiroshi's replications but no, they just smashed into the ground. Blood splashed across the ground as the Grass Genin were knocked unconscious once again, hopefully for good.

The real Hiroshi came out of hiding as well as Shiro and Himawari and checked the motionless ninja they had just defeated, sure enough they'd be out cold for a long time.

"I think that takes care of them," Hiroshi said with excitement.

"Hiroshi, I think we need to get to the tower before we're attacked again," suggested Shiro.

"Shiro-kun's right," the kunoichi added.

"Yeah let's go."

They turned around and were about to jump into the trees when a kunai came flying out of the trees, nearly hitting Hiroshi in the head. His heart was pounding and looked at where it came from.

"What the hell?" he asked no one.

Then three figures appeared and one began to talk, "Long time, no see, Hiroshi-kun."

Hiroshi immediately recognized that voice, "Sumi."

Sumi just smirked, the showdown was about to begin.

* * *

Naruto woke up with an uneasy feeling. The night before Jiraiya had told him not to worry about his team, they'd be fine. Naruto just hoped he could trust Jiraiya was right and that he was not the one being played a fool. Naruto wanted to warn the proctor anyways, to keep an eye, but Jiraiya continued to reassure him everything will work out fine. Jiraiya seemed so confident about it, so Naruto let it go. He did swear if something did happen to his team, he'd beat the crap out of the old pervert.

Naruto got out of the bed and stared out the window in the direction of the 44th Battle Training Zone, he could see the tip of the tower in that forest. He sighed.

"I hope Ero-sennin was right about this, Team Eleven better get out of that place alive."

* * *

**As you see, two revelations. 1. Sumi is a spy in the Tatsumaki for Jiraiya. 2. 'Shinsui' was actually Hayase, the brother of the real Shinsu and Hayase posed as Shinsui when fighting Naruto. Until next time, see ya.**


	41. Third Confrontation: Sumi and Hiroshi!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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41. Third Confrontation: Sumi and Hiroshi! 

Hiroshi and Sumi stared at each other tensely. Hatred, dislike and any other negative feelings that could be directed towards another human being was instantly consuming Hiroshi. Every time Hiroshi saw this kid, it brought back the reminder that he worked for the very no-good son of a bitch of an uncle who killed his parents, leaving him virtually alone in the world. Hiroshi's hands clenched into fists, he was ready. He'd settle this one and for all and prove that one day he'll be strong enough to come after _him_ by killing his very disciple who was standing above him on a tree branch with two other kids their age.

Hiroshi pulled out the heaven scroll he was carrying and gave it Shiro. His eyes never left his target as he finally spoke, "Shiro, Himawari-chan, you two make a run for it and get to the tower, and I'll handle Sumi."

"Hai," Himawari replied and Shiro only nodded.

Shiro and Himawari jumped into the trees and began their trek towards the tower.

"Une-san, go after Shiro," directed Sumi, Une nodded and went after Shiro. "And Hana, you take on Himawari."

Hana nodded and went off after Himawari.

"It's just you and me, Sumi-_chan_." Hiroshi called out.

"Why yes it is, Hiroshi-kun." Sumi said seemingly unaffected by Hiroshi's insult.

"Time to settle this once and for all," Hiroshi said and ran up the tree and tried to land a punch on Sumi who just jumped down from the tree to the forest floor below.

"Come on Hiroshi-kun, you can do better than that," mocked Sumi.

Hiroshi took out two shuriken and threw them at Sumi. He, unfortunately, just stepped aside as they flew right by him. Sumi returned to his position while Hiroshi smirked. His target didn't notice the shuriken turned into two Kage Bunshins (Shadow Replications) and silently approached Sumi. Completely caught off guard, one of the replications kicked Sumi across his face while the other punched him in face in the opposite direction. After both impacts of foot and fist, Sumi collapsed to his knees. Hiroshi took the opportunity to take the upper hand, so he jumped off the branch he was on to the ground and quickly performed hand seals.

"Doton: Doryudan! (Earth Release: Dragon Mud Bomb **[A/N: I don't know if this is the exact translation, but I think it's somewhere on the lines of that so don't sue me**)" Hiroshi yelled as he slammed one of his palms on the ground.

The earth shook as a large dragon's head made of dirt and rock emerged from the ground. It's glowing yellow eyes would of freaked anyone out if they had seen this attack for the first time. The earth dragon head opened his mouth and began launching projectiles made of mud.

Sumi struggled to get up as the oncoming attack he was completely oblivious to was coming. He was mind was so set on the pain to both sides of his face, he didn't hear Hiroshi's yell, he didn't realize the earth shook and he certainly not prepared for the onslaught of balls of mud that Hiroshi's attack just launched. Sumi looked up just in time to see one of the mud balls to smash him square in his already hurting face. The force of the blow knocked Sumi backwards into the air as more of the mud projectiles started bombarding Sumi's body. The force behind all those hits caused Sumi to fly through the air faster until he slammed into a tree. He slid down the tree onto his butt and slouched over a bit. The waves of mud had finally stopped hitting Sumi, you could easily tell the marks they had left behind.

Hiroshi smirked as the dragon head in front of him crumbled back into a pile of unshaped dirt and rock.

Sumi finally gained the ability to move again and forced himself back up, _'He's definitely gotten a lot stronger in the last six months.'_

After pushing out his thoughts, his blurry vision finally focused on Hiroshi was standing proudly at his accomplishment of badly beating up Sumi.

"That was quite the blow you gave me Hiroshi-kun, I can see you've trained well in the last six months."

Hiroshi smirked, he was falling blindly into his trap, a trap he used once before and was quickly falling for it again, what a moron.

"Quite observant, yeah I trained to better my techniques I already have." '_And thanks to Kakashi-sensei, I was able to learn two more of my families jutsu's my father never got to teach me, now I know all four major earth jutsu's of my family.'_

Sumi looked around and then pumped chakra into his ears to strengthen his hearing to see if there was any running water nearby. Soon he found the location of water, but it was too far to try and lead Hiroshi their so he could use his ninjutsu, _'Looks like I'll have to resort to using basic ninjutsu, my Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Replication Technique) and taijutsu.'_

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Inner Groundhog Decapitation Technique)!"

"What? Again!" yelled Sumi as two hands grabbed his ankles and yanked the unsuspecting victim into the ground with only his head sticking out.

Hiroshi stood over his head as the other Hiroshi dispersed out of existence. The whole time it was a shadow replication.

"When?" asked Sumi.

Hiroshi exactly knew what Sumi was getting at, "When I ran up the tree to attack you at first. When I ran behind I created the replication and it went after you. When you were to busy with my replications, I performed this jutsu and waited at the right time."

Sumi cursed himself for falling for this same trap once again. If he didn't act fast, he won't be able to pull any blows on Hiroshi and he'd be killed before he can reveal his secret to the Konoha nin.

Hiroshi took out a kunai and stared at Sumi's head, "I'm making a statement here, since you're Kami's disciple. He thinks highly of you, doesn't he?"

"Hai, he does," the incarcerated nin replied.

"He thinks you're stronger than any normal Genin, correct?" asked the towering nin.

"What's with all these questions?" asked Sumi.

"By killing you, it'll send him a message I'm getting stronger," Hiroshi replied, "So he'll begin to think there is a chance I could find him and kill him one day."

"Why do you want to kill Totosai-sama so badly?" the boy in the ground asked.

"Didn't I tell you." Sumi shook his head no, "He killed my parents."

Hiroshi didn't speak anymore as he threw the kunai at Sumi's head. After a split second, the kunai embedded Sumi's head and a second later, Sumi disappeared in a puff of smoke. Hiroshi's eyes widened.

"What the hell?!" yelled Hiroshi, then turned his attention towards the direction of noise that he just heard and saw Sumi smirking.

"So I'm not the only one who's falling for traps," he mocked.

This Sumi had a scroll on his back, and Hiroshi indicated it was the real Sumi. Sumi jumped to the ground and unrolled the scroll across the ground. Hiroshi immediately tell it was a sealing scroll and took out a bunch of kunai and shuriken and threw it at the scroll.

"Oh no you don't," said Sumi as he took out a single kunai and blocked all the shuriken and kunai that Hiroshi threw in hopes of destroying the scroll.

Hiroshi then charged at Sumi in hopes to not let him unseal whatever he was planning to unseal, Sumi got up and the two were in a brawl of pure taijutsu. Kicks and punches were thrown left and right, some were dodged and some made contact with the other. After a few minutes Sumi finally sent one final punch into Hiroshi's jaw. The force knocked him back a couple of feet giving Sumi enough time to mess with his scroll.

Sumi bit his thumb, blood began to flow down his finger around his hand. Not wasting any time, he began performing hand seals at an alarming rate and slammed both hands down onto the scroll. A large cloud of smoke appeared where the scroll was laid out. During that time, Hiroshi finally recovered from the painful blow he took to the jaw. He rubbed his chin and waited for that cloud to clear to see whatever the hell Sumi had just unsealed. Finally, what felt like forever, the cloud of smoke cleared revealing a rather large bowl full of water.

"The whole time you were fighting my replication while I gathered water for the actual fight. I'll need it for my jutsu."

'_Shit,'_ Hiroshi thought, but no matter what, he was determined to win this fight and kill Sumi so he could maybe invoke some kind of fear in Kami.

"Let's begin," Sumi said as he began performing hand seals, "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu (Water Release: Dragon Water Missile Technique)!"

A giant dragon made of water emerged from the large bowl of water, Hiroshi kept his cool as the dragon made its way to Hiroshi.

'_I know exactly what to do.'_ Hiroshi thought as he performed the hand seals for the Kawarimi (Body Replacement).

Fortunately for Hiroshi, Sumi did not see him performing the hand seals as the massive water dragon crashed into Hiroshi, or at least that's what appeared to Sumi's eyes. As the dragon returned inside the large bowl, the only thing that was where Hiroshi was once standing was a couple of logs.

'_So he got away again.'_

Hiroshi quickly went through hand seals and slammed his palm onto the ground, "Doton: Hashira no Zetsumei no Jutsu! (Pillars of Death Technique)"

Sumi turned around to the direction of the voice, he saw pillars of earth come up, coming straight at the bowl of water, "No!" he yelled but it was too late, one pillar came up and knocked over the bowl while another came up from the ground and broke it into pieces.

Sumi's connection to using his jutsu was now destroyed and he was left no grand offense, except for his taijutsu, but with Hiroshi's initial advantage, all that he could think of was defending himself. Sumi knew he looked like he just got his ass handed back to him, so soon he'd end the battle and confess to Hiroshi his true purpose and maybe even shed a little light on his past to him, but first he had to focus a little more on the fight at hand.

"Now that your precious water is gone, I think it's time I end this." Hiroshi said performing hand seals once again.

"Doton: Hashira no Zetsumei no Jutsu! (Earth Release: Pillars of Death Technique)"

Hiroshi once again slammed his palm into the ground and quickly a wave of sharp, rising pillars, Sumi desperately tried to avoid getting hit by one of these deadly pillars of earth. If any made contact, it mean certain death. He dodged by continuously hoping backwards in a zigzag motion. He was basically dodging Death himself.

Using chakra to increase his running speed, Hiroshi rushed to get behind Sumi, once he got a good distance he stopped and quickly performed hand seals,

"Doton: Tsuchi Kabe (Earth Release: Earth Wall)!"

Hiroshi slammed his palm onto the ground. The ground shook and a large wall of earth rose in front of Hiroshi. He used Naruto's early chakra training to climb up the wall to the very top. It was tall and reached the tree tops and was pretty wide. Sumi was still dodging pillars when his back slammed into the large earth wall.

"Where did this come from?" asked a bewildered Sumi.

He quickly put his attention as the wave of rising sharp pillars and quickly scaled the wall. He stopped for a while thinking he was safe now, but no, the pillars were now coming out of the wall.

"Shit!" yelled Sumi as he started running up the wall so he could get to the other said and to safety. This was the first time since he was back home that he felt this scared and helpless.

Hiroshi looked and saw this was his chance to end the battle here and now, _'Thank you Kakashi-sensei, for teaching me this extra earth jutsu.'_

Hiroshi performed hand seals and began running down the wall to meet up with where Sumi was running up.

"Doton: Tsuchi Genkotsu (Earth Release: Earth Fist)!" Hiroshi yelled as he slammed his fist into the wall.

When Hiroshi pulled it out, his fist was completely covered in rock. It was hard and heavy, it was what he needed to finish this once and for all. So the Konoha Genin continued running down the side of the wall as Sumi was running up, he failed to notice the pillar Jutsu stopped and was running from absolutely nothing. Hiroshi met up with Sumi and gave him a punch of a lifetime. It was hard, strong, filled with anger and it fucking hurt like crazy. The pain from taking a hit from a literally rock hard fist caused Sumi to lose his focus on placing charka into his feet and fell off. Sumi was literally scared for his life, if he truly was a member of that Tatsumaki, then Hiroshi just successfully defeated and killed him, but since he was not, Sumi had to act quick or he'd be killed. Then it hit Sumi like a ton of bricks and he created a shadow replication. The replication jumped off the wall, grabbed Sumi and led him to safety. Hiroshi cursed himself as Sumi avoided death once again and rushed to the ground. The pillars and wall all crumbled to piles of dirt and rock as Hiroshi cancelled the jutsu's.

Sumi lied on the ground, it took all his strength to get up at least on his knees to face Hiroshi, and sure enough Hiroshi was walking over to him.

"I'll admit, you're a strong opponent," Hiroshi said.

Sumi just chuckled a bit, "I think it's time we stopped this madness."

"I agree," Hiroshi replied and took out a couple of kunai.

Sumi saw and chuckled again, "Not in that way Hiroshi-kun, I meant to stop fighting period."

"And why the hell would I do that?" asked Hiroshi.

"Hiroshi-kun, I'm not who you think I am," Sumi stated.

"What do you mean?" asked a now confused Hiroshi.

"I'm not really a member of the Tatsumaki…" Sumi admitted.

Hiroshi's eyes widened, just what the hell was he talking about?

* * *

**Earlier, while Sumi and Hiroshi fought:**

Shiro and Himawari desperately sped through the trees as they made their way towards the tower. They even pumped chakra into their feet so they'd get a boost of speed, they really wanted to avoid confrontation with the other two shinobi that were with that Sumi guy. But as luck would have it, they were about to have another fight on their hands. Even though they sped through the trees, Sumi's partners had caught up to the two Konoha ninja. Une appeared at the side of Shiro and Hana appeared at the side of Himawari.

Both Shiro and Himawari saw the figures from their side vision and sighed, avoiding battle was definitely not in the works today.

"Himawari-chan, looks like we're going to have to battle these idiots," Shiro said to Himawari.

She just nodded in agreement and the two split up with their opponents following them. Two battles were about to go under way.

* * *

**The chapter of revealing Sumi's past will not be until after the next chapter, because the next chapter will be about the Shiro and Himawari's fight with Une and Hana. Until next time, see ya**


	42. Our Repsective Fights!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**  
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**42. Our Respective Fights!**

Wind blew through the trees, rustling the leaves that were growing on the branches, the sun high in the sky shining over the great canopy that is the 44th Training Battle Zone, or better known as the Forest of Death but the only sounds coming out of that forest is sounds of battle. Kunai cling as they hit each other, screams erupt through the air, all in a day's fight for the second test of the Chunin Selection Exam. Another cling of crashing metal is heard again, a kunai hitting a couple of shuriken, that kunai is in the hands of Suzuki Shiro as he just battered away shuriken thrown by his opponent, Une, a ninja being trained under the Tatsumaki but wearing a Awekagure (Village Hidden in the Rain) outfit, disguised so he could enter the Chunin Exams and kill Shiro. Of course, that is if he can defeat a member of the great Uzumaki Naruto (Well, not _that_ great, but great enough).

The two finished their little weapons battle as they both landed on the ground below. Ever since Himawari and Shiro split up, Shiro had been at a weapons brawl in the trees for twenty whole minutes, Une was good but Shiro held his ground. Now the two are on the ground, breathing heavily as they had just finish racing through the trees. They stared each other down. One with eyes ready to kill and the other with eyes waiting to defend his life at all costs, it was as if there were two Jounin's intent to kill only they were Genin.

"I'm going to make this quick so I can return to Akuma-sensei," Une spoke.

"That's if you think you can kill me," taunted Shiro.

Une smirked and began performing hand seals and Shiro did the same.

"Suzuki Family Secret Jutsu: Chakra Release!"

A blast of chakra came out of Shiro and began spiraling around Shiro. Une didn't look all that fazed and finished his hand movements.

"Fuuton: Taifuu Kaze Bakufuu (Wind Release: Tyhpoon Wind Blast)!"

A large typhoon of spiraling wind emerged and its target was Shiro. Une smirked thinking he already won this fight since Shiro was just standing there looking at the wind jutsu like he was admiring it or something.

'_I knew it would be over quickly, I thank you Otou-san for teaching me these wind jutsu's before you died.'_

Shiro waited until the right time, he knew exactly what was going through Une's mind. Shiro wanted him to think he was just going to take the hit like he wanted the fight to be over. Just as Une couldn't see Shiro anymore, Shiro sprung into action, made a hand seal and mumbled, "Charka Shield."

The blast of wind seemed to just get stuck, Une couldn't figure out what was going on, "Wha-what's going on?"

And then the jutsu wore off and Une got his answer. There where the wind got stuck was a massive wall of chakra protecting Shiro. _'So he used his chakra to form a wall to protect himself.'_

"Looks like I underestimated you," said Une. Shiro just stayed quiet, "Not much of a talker, are you?"

Shiro nodded his head and did another hand seal, "Chakra Shuriken!"

The wall of chakra turned into a bunch of shuriken. With a single movement of Shiro's arms, the shuriken made of chakra spun towards Une. Une jumped to dodge the shuriken, but unlike real shuriken, these ones could be controlled and so they followed Une. He was now more vulnerable, and had no where to dodge. Most of the shuriken made contact, ripping through Une as if he was mere paper. They may have been made of chakra and went clear through Une, it still hurt like hell as if he was literally stuffed through a paper shredder.

Une landed on his back and forced himself to get on his feet. Pain shot through all the points the shuriken had entered his body and he was barely holding up, but Une knew he had to complete the mission if at all costs, even if he died in the process too as long as he was doing it for Akuma, his sensei.

"That was very good, but now how you going to attack now, you used all your chakra you forced out of your body to make those shuriken," the Awe (rain) disquised boy said.

What Une didn't notice was the shuriken made of chakra were just spinning in the air behind him, he failed to look back when he made his smart-mouthed remark and it was just about to cost him, dearly.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," replied Shiro as he pulled his arm back.

Une had a confused look on his face and then pain hit him once again as the shuriken ripped through is body from behind. Once again Une was forced to his knees as the pain was great. Une looked around to see if he was bleed, but was surprised he didn't.

"Are you confused? Do you want to know why there's no blood?" asked Shiro.

Une nodded as he tried to get up onto his feet once more.

"It's simple, they're not real shuriken; they're made of chakra. All it does is cause massive pain," the quiet Genin explained.

The chakra shuriken returned to normal flowing chakra that still floated around Shiro. Une could tell that the chakra was starting to wear down, maybe it was his chance for a come back. He grabbed something that was attached to his side but let it go quickly, _'I'll use that if I have to.'_

Shiro wasn't going to waste time, it was kill or be killed and did another hand seal, "Chakra Kunai"

The chakra formed into kunai that lined up as if it were an execution line. With a single movement of his arms, the kunai attacked. Une began performing hand seals for his next move.

"Fuuton: Kaze Kadou (Wind Release: Wind Vortex)!"

A vortex of pure wind came down from the sky and blew through the kunai made of chakra, but the attack did not stop there, the vortex also went after Shiro. With Shiro's chakra release being cancelled out by the wind vortex, Shiro began jumping through the trees, trying to avoid the vortex. Just like his chakra shuriken, the wind vortex followed. Shiro couldn't avoid it any longer as was hit and sent spiraling through the air until he hit a tree head on. Shiro's body fell limp into the ground and did not move. It looked as if he was knocked out cold. Une smirked and walked casually over toward Shiro's body. Shiro on the other hand was not out cold, he was waiting for the dumb kid to walk over to him and investigate or finish him off. Une got closer and closer and closer than a fist was in his face. Shiro had quickly gotten up and slammed his fist into the front of Une's face. Une was so unprepared for the punch that he spiraled backwards and fell to the ground. Shiro turned around, holding his right shoulder and limped a couple of steps before stopping.

"That was the biggest mistake walking over to me like that," Shiro stated.

Une didn't reply and wiped his mouth and nose to see if there was any blood. There was some coming out of his nose, but nothing major, all he really got out of that punch was pure pain.

Une got to his feet and pulled out a handle of some sort, he began performing hand seals with it in hand. When he came to the final seal he yelled.

"Secret Kenjutsu: Kaze Katana! (Secret Art of the Sword: Wind Blade)!"

Une swiped the air by the handle and air began to move around it and took the shape of a long blade.

"I can't believe I have to actually use this but I must."

Une charged at Shiro with the blade and began swinging it. Sharp wind shot out of the blade, Shiro dodged a couple, but one did hit. It didn't cut him in half. Lucily Shino move out of the way just enough for it to cut across his chest and not cut him in half like it was supposed to.

Shiro landed back on the ground and felt his slash, it was bleeding a lot, but not near enough to be serious or even deadly, it would stop on it's own shortly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a solider pill and ate it. He performed hand seals again and charka erupted out of him. The battle was far from over.

* * *

Breathing, running, desperately evading, three things Hana has been doing since she has caught up with Himawari. It turned out Himawari was waiting for Hana to appear and had set traps in such short notice. Hana came to a branch and Himawari threw a couple of shuriken to cut a string and suddenly a wave of kunai came shooting out of the canopy, their target: Hana. She instantly looked up to see the incoming wave of kunai, she gathered chakra to her feet and jumped high to avoid the onslaught of sharp metal. Hana successfully dodged all the traps that were set up by Himawari, at least she hoped anyway. 

Himawari managed to get their fight closer to the water so Himawari could perform her jutsu's.

Hana looked around and couldn't find her target anywhere in the area and started cautiously walking to see if she could locate the Konoha Genin. She came to the river that was flowing through the forest and looked around the area.

"Where could that girl be?" she asked herself.

Just moments ago she had seen the Konoha-nin leaping around the trees throwing shurikens to cut ropes that launched series of kunai at her and now Himawari just up and vanished. Either she ran off or is up to something.

Hana turned her back towards up river and Himawari, in the nearby bushes watching, took the element of surprise as she leaped out of the bush and started performing hand seals like her life depended on it.

"Suiton: Mizubashira Shuriken! (Water Release: Waterspout Shuriken)"

Hana turned around after hearing Himawari shout, she couldn't dodge the attack, Hana used all her time to turn around to face her opponent. Soon a raging waterspout swirled around Hana. As quickly as the waterspout formed, the water inside the spiraling water turned into shuriken, sharp as the real thing, scratching and cutting Hana left and right as they spiraled upward from the ground. Once the attack was over, Hana fell to her knees as small amounts of blood oozed out of her minor cuts and scratches.

"Well you caught me off guard, but now I know how to stop you with my Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit)!" Hana yelled.

'_Kekkei Genkai? What does she mean?'_ Himawari mentally asked herself.

Hana noticed the puzzeled look on her face and decided to do a little explaining.

"My Kekkei Genkai, the ability to create blizzards, freeze water, pretty much anything to do with winter. My father was a member of the Tatsumaki before…" Hana trailed off and a lone tear rolled down her check, "Before you bastards killed him!"

"I didn't…" Himawari began but was interrupted.

"I don't care! You will pay anyway!" she yelled and did one hand seal, "Kakushigoto Jutsu: Gyouketsu Kaze no Burizado! (Secret Art: Freezing Wind of the Blizzard)"

Hana inhaled deeply then exhaled hard, instead of normal breath coming out, a bitter cold and raging wind blew out of her mouth across the entire area. Once the air hit Himawari she began to shiver uncontrollably, the air was that cold. The entire river froze over. The wind died down and Himawari was still shivering.

"Are you a little cold?" Hana mocked asked.

"Sh-shut up!" the Konoha Kunoichi stuttered between shivers.

Hana walked over to the frozen river and stepped on it and began performing hand seals.

"Ice Release: Ice Kunai Jutsu!"

Hana stomped her feet on the ice and pieces of it broke off and shaped into kunai and flew towards Himawari. She was still shivering badly and could not find the strength to move out of the way so the kunai made of ice impaled her, but they kept going, so they took her with them as they. Soon her back hit something hard but couldn't find the strength to look. Hana, however saw, the kunai impaled Himawari to a tree a few feet away. As she walked closer she could see the blood oozing out of each area the kunai had struck.

Himawari closed her eyes and let a memory of her father wash over her.

**Flashback:**

_A tall man wearing his standard ANBU armor walked around their family's yard with an 8 year old little girl. She looked as if she had just finished training; her smiling face indicated that she may have accomplished something this day._

"_You did great, Himawari, you finally mastered the Mizu Bunshin (Water Replication)," the man told the little girl._

"_Hai, arigatou Otou-san," the little girl replied. "Otou-san, I have a question?"_

_Her father smiled, "What is it, Himawari?"_

"_Can we still use our jutsu even if water is frozen?"_

"_Unfortunately no, since the water is now a solid, we can't."_

"_Ah, that stinks!" yelled the little girl while her father just laughed at her cuteness._

"_But there is a technique that could break the ice, one that can bring the unfrozen water to break through the frozen," the girl's father replied._

"_Can you teach me, please?" begged the younger Himawari making a cute face that no one could say no too._

"_If I do, you'll only be able to do it once a day," replied her father._

"_I don't mind!" yelled the now excited Himawari._

"_Alright then, let's rest up a bit first then I'll teach you that jutsu."_

"_Yay!" yelled a now happy then ever Himawari while her father laughed and watch her run around the yard happily._

**End of flashback.**

Himawari's eyes shot open, _'I forgot about that attack!'_

Hana stopped when she noticed Himawari was okay. Himawari quickly pulled out the ice kunai's. She winced in pain after pulling each one, but she'd manage. She took the ice kunai and threw them back at Hana. Hana just jumped out of the way, but that gave Himawari some time to perform the required hand seals. She went at it and went as fast as she could possibly go.

'_This technique requires you to perform 44 hand seals.'_

The words of her father when he taught her this jutsu ringed in her head as she performed the hand seals at the fastest rate she ever thought she could do.

'_You must perform them fast, if you don't, this will give your enemy's the advantage to take you out.'_

She kept at it, going as fast as she could and held the pace.

'_So encourage yourself, believe in yourself and you'll be able to go through these hand seals at blinding speed, a speed you never knew you hand.'_

Himawari was tiring out but she kept at it yelling, "I believe!"

Hana took out her kunai and was going to attack, but it was too late, she had wasted too much time watching Himawari perform hand seals faster than she had ever seen anyone perform them before in her life.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu! (Water Release: Water Dragon Blast Technique)"

Hana smirked, "You mean this whole time you were going to perform a water jutsu? Don't you realize you cannot perform water jutsu when your water source is frozen over."

Himawari just looked Hana square in the eyes, "There's one that can break the ice and I just performed it, besides you forgot one thing, you didn't freeze the whole river."

Hana's eyes widened and then the frozen river broke apart and a large dragon made of water emerged and quickly slammed into Hana. The force the water forced her through several trees before coming to a stop by being slammed into a tree with a trunk so thick, it was merely impenetrable. The pain quickly flowed through her back as tears began to leak out of Hana's eyes.

Himawari was now breathing heavily, that attack used a lot of her chakra. Lucily for her, she had some soldier pills on her and she took a couple and her chakra was instantly restored. She didn't hesitate to end the battle right here and now, so she performed another series of hand seals.

"Suiton: Tsunami Uzumaki no Jutsu! (Water Release: Tidal Wave Whirlpool Technique)"

The water in the river rose up into a tidal wave and headed for Hana. She looked up and saw the tidal wave, but the pain in her back made her flinch when she moved, there was no way she was going to be able to dodge the attack, not in her current state. Himawari smirked knowing the battle was about to be over.

* * *

"What do you mean you're not who I think you are?" asked a bewildered Hiroshi. 

"It's time for me to explain who I really am…" replied Sumi.

Hiroshi just stood their and awaited Sumi's story.

* * *

**If Hana's attack and explaination of her Kekkei Genkai didn't give it away then I'll tell you: Hana is the daughter of Burizado. Sorry for the long awaited update, I had the first part of this chapter written last week, but I couldn't think of what Hana's jutsu's could have been. I might update again today since I'm off from work.**


	43. Past of a Lonely Orphan

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**

43. Past of a Lonely Orphan 

Hiroshi kept staring at Sumi with a puzzled look. Sumi just said he wasn't who Hiroshi thought he was. That seriously confused Hiroshi. How could he say that? To Hiroshi, he thought he was a crazy kid bent on killing him, how could he be wrong about that? Sumi was toying with him, that's what it was. He was definitely being toyed with.

"If you think I'm going to believe that for one minute, you're wrong!" yelled Hiroshi who still had his kunai in hand.

"You don't need the kunai, I'm going to explain myself," replied Sumi.

"Oh sure, once I put it up, you're going to try and attack me," spat the Genin.

Sumi just chuckled, "You really don't trust me, but of course I cannot blame you."

As soon as Hiroshi heard the words 'trust me', he looked at Sumi as if he was crazy, as if he had lost his mind somewhere along the way in the Forest of Death.

"Of course I don't trust you!" yelled Hiroshi, "You freakin' tried to kill me three times!"

Sumi chuckled again, "It was all an act."

"An act?" asked Hiroshi who became confused once again, "What do you mean?"

"I am a Konoha-nin too," the Awe disguised boy said.

Hiroshi looked at him funny, "Yeah right, stop lying."

"Really I am." Sumi pleaded, his face showed he was telling the truth but Hiroshi just wouldn't buy it.

"Am I really supposed to believe all this bull you're throwing at me?" asked a not so amused Hiroshi.

"I figured you would not as I have fought you several times," replied Sumi.

Hiroshi wanted to punch the kid out, anything to get away from this freak. First there were on the verge of killing each other, now the idiot is saying he's a Konoha-nin. This kid was really screwed up in the head if you asked Hiroshi.

"I'm a spy for Konoha, under Jiraiya-sama's spy network. He placed me in the organization when they first began to stir trouble for the Shinobi world."

Hiroshi burst out laugh, "You really expect me to believe you're a spy for the Toad Sannin's spy network?"

"Well I was hoping because it is the truth," admitted Sumi.

Hiroshi noticed Sumi's face never changed when revealing being a Konoha-nin and being a spy for Jiraiya.

Sumi took off the Awe forehead protector that Akuma had given him to use as the disguise to get into the Chunin Exam to carry out their mission and stared at it for a while as memories of being in the Awekagure's orphanage.

"Though I really am for Awekagure," he admitted.

"Really?" asked a now interested Hiroshi.

Sumi nodded, "I was told my parents were killed in the civil war our village erupted ten years ago, and I was only two years old."

Hiroshi felt saddened, since he just lost his parents not too long ago.

"Though I don't know how it feels like since I was so young at the time and can't remember much, but I know you know what it feels like, right?" asked Sumi.

"Yeah, I do." Hiroshi replied in a sad voice thinking about his own dead parents.

"Growing up in the orphanage, I hardly had any friends. I hated it there," Sumi continued, "I was there for ten long years because nobody wanted to adopt me."

"It must have sucked, huh?" Hiroshi responded.

"Yes, it did. Every night that I can remember, I cried myself to sleep because of the bitter loneliness I felt in that place," the orphan continued on about his life.

Hiroshi knew he wasn't lying now. Everything he was saying and has said after he ended their fight has been nothing but truth. Now he felt bad for Sumi and his bad childhood. Hiroshi was now glad at least he had his parents for a good twelve years, but it was killed him inside knowing they were killed. Even that though, he had nothing to complain about when compared to Sumi. He definitely had it worse than Hiroshi ever did. It made Hiroshi appreciate the time he did get to spend with his parents even more.

"Compared to you, my little problem is nothing," Hiroshi said.

Sumi chuckled a bit, "Yes, but losing both parents at the same time has to be difficult enough."

Hiroshi just nodded, he didn't trust his voice right at this point and only wanted Sumi to continue, Hiroshi had been wrong about this kid. He hid his pain extremely well, if anyone looked at Sumi, you'd think he was a normal twelve year old ninja.

"Then one day nearly two years ago, was when I met my savoir."

**Flashback:**

_Sumi walked through the streets with the shadow of his hair covering his eyes as he stared at the ground. Sad and alone with no one to care about him while the villagers just walked by as they didn't even know he existed. _'Ten years of this and still going.'

_Today was the day Sumi turned twelve, another birthday to celebrate by himself. Even the people working in the orphanage didn't acknowledge it was his birthday. He looked up to see a man and woman hugging their small child. Sumi sighed, wishing he could have something like what he saw. He didn't care what it was; he wanted to be of some use to anyone even if it wasn't family-based. He just wanted out of the loneliness he was in and do something with his life._

_Sumi continued walking down the street, not really watching where he was walking when he bumped into someone sitting down peaking through a hole in the fence of the local bath house._

"_Watch it kid," said the white-haired male in an irritated voice._

"_G-gomen," Sumi replied._

_Sumi was about to continue on his way when his curiosity got the best of him._

"_What are you doing anyway?" asked Sumi._

_The older male groaned, "None of your business kid, now get out of my sight."_

_Sumi looked up and noticed it was the women's side of the bath house, he put two and two together._

"_Pervert!" yelled Sumi at the top of his lungs._

_The old man's eyes widened as he grabbed Sumi and ran as fast as he could away from the bath house. After the man felt he was of safe distance from his 'watching' area, he stopped and placed the kid down and looked at him angrily._

"_You know kid, you just ruined my research."_

"_You call looking at naked girls, research!" yelled Sumi._

"_I write a book, so yes, it is research!" spat the old pervert. "Now leave me alone and go home to your parents."_

_Sumi's eyes saddened at the mere mention of home and parents, two things he did not have, he got up with his back turned from the old man._

"_I don't have a home or parents, I live in the orphanage but even there no one really knows I exist."_

_The old man looked at the kid, it reminded him so much of another student he had._

"_Say kid, what's you're name anyway?" asked the white haired old man._

"_Sumi, what about you?" asked Sumi._

"_I am the Great Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin," he replied with huge grin. "Are you in the Ninja Academy here?"_

_Sumi shook his head, "No, they won't let me join so I am no use to anyone."_

"_So you want a purpose huh?" asked Jiraiya._

_Sumi nodded and Jiraiya began to think. _'Hmm, the defection of Ookawa Shinsui and Ookawa Hayase and them starting an organization might pose a problem, this kid seems smart, and I need someone like him to fool them.'

"_You seem like a smart kid, how about I train you in the art of spying as well as Ninjutsu?" asked Jiraiya._

"_R-really?" Sumi asked almost as if he didn't believe the old pervert._

"_I could use a brain like yours."_

"_Sure thing, Jiraiya-sama!" Sumi said excitedly._

**End of Flashback**

"So me and Jiraiya traveled for a while, training," Sumi continued, "We found out my elemental chakra type was water so he trained me in water jutsu as well as teaching me the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Replication Technique)."

'_So that's how he knew it.'_ Hiroshi observed as he continued to listen to Sumi's story.

"Finally we returned to Awekagure a year ago."

**Flashback:**

_Jiraiya and Sumi entered Awekagure for the first time in two years. It was Sumi's twelfth birthday. Two years ago this day where he got his wish to be of use to someone and that someone was Jiraiya._

"_Two years of training, how does it feel to come home now?" asked Jiraiya._

"_It feels good since how I am now," Sumi replied honestly._

"_Good, because I'm setting you lose."_

"_What?" Sumi asked becoming frantic._

"_I need you to use your deception skills." Jiraiya pleaded._

"_In what way?" asked Sumi._

"_In these two years I have been training you, I have been keeping an eye on Ookawa Shinsui and Ookawa Hayase, two missing-nin from Kirikagure, they defected from their village and started up some organization that might plan on destroying all shinobi nations," the Sannin explained._

"_You want me to infiltrate their ranks and keep taps on them while reporting the information on their movements, plans and actions, don't you?" asked Sumi finally getting the point._

"_Yes, I definitely have no regrets in training you, Sumi," the old man said._

"_Arigatou, Jiraiya-sama. So what do you want me to do?"_

"_I found out he's looking for one more child to train, I want you to show him your smarts so you can get inside the organization," explained the pervert._

"_Very well, I shall get in their ranks for you, Jiraiya-sama."_

"_Good luck," Jiraiya said while handing Sumi a scroll, "Meet me at this location in one month for your first report, okay?"_

"_Sure thing, Jiraiya-sama."_

_Sumi watched Jiraiya disappeared then turned to the scroll and stared at the picture of what the organization's recruiting member looked like, so he set out looking for him._

**End of Flashback**

"It took me four hours to find Totosai, and it didn't take him very long to accept inside his ranks."

**Flashback:**

_Four hours of frantic searching for the man in the picture left poor Sumi tired, he was about to give up when the very man he was looking for stopped and stared at Sumi. He looked up and noticed he was being observed, as the man was studying him. The man nodded and spoke._

"_You look like you're fit enough of an orphan to join up with me, what do you say?" asked the cloaked man before Sumi._

"_I've always wanted to be of use to someone, so yes I'll join you," Sumi replied._

"_Very well then, you can call me Totosai. Follow me," the man said turning and walking away._

"_Yes, Totosai-sama," Sumi replied and began following the brown-haired man._

**End of Flashback**

"For the last few months I've been acting as if I am a member of Tatsumaki while every few weeks or so I give a report to Jiraiya-sama on their plans, actions and movements,:" Sumi explained.

"I just have one question, if you're from Awekagure, then how can you be a Konoha-nin?" asked Hiroshi.

Sumi smiled, "Easy, Jiraiya-sama instated me as a Genin of Konohagakure just three months ago. Of course I don't wear the Konoha symbol forehead protector since I am a spy."

"Very well then, thank you for clearing that up for me." Hiroshi said looking in the directions his teammate's slash friends ran off too. "I hate to cut this short, Sumi, but if you don't mind, I'd like to go help my friends now."

Sumi nodded, "I'll help, I'm supposed to dispose of Une and Hana since they could be potential threats to Konoha in the future."

Hiroshi motioned Sumi to follow him. Sumi wasn't far behind as the two begun to treck through the forest in search of Shiro and Himawari. Hiroshi just stared ahead while Sumi stayed closely behind.

'_Shiro, Himawari hang in there, help is on the way.'_

* * *

**There you have it, a little look in Sumi's past. Just when he met Jiraiya and how easily he got into the Tatsumaki. There is a small possiblity I'll update tomorrow, but I'll be busy so I don't know so until next time, see ya.**


	44. Mission Accomplished: Sumi's Help!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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**

44. Mission Accomplished: Sumi's Help 

The water crashed into the lone figure. Screams could be heard throughout the forest of the girl trapped inside the flooding waters. She tried her best to stay above the surface but it was hard as the raging waters swept her away, hitting trees left and right. At first she thought the water had finally stopped but then it began to spin.

'_What is going on?!' _Hana questioned in her mind as she began pulled into the massive whirlpool that just began.

The water twirled around more and more violent and Hana was stuck in the middle of it all. She could not get out of it, she was trapped. After another few minutes, the horror had finally stopped and the water receded.

After the water receded, Himawari saw her opponent on all fours desperately trying to catch her breath. Then suddenly a sharp pain ripped through her body and fell to one of her knee as well.

'_I-I think I used up almost all my chakra, I don't think I can continue now.'_

* * *

Sumi and Hiroshi had stopped when they heard the blood screeching scream that echoed through the forest.

"That was Hana's voice and it's coming from that direction," said Sumi as he pointed in the direction the scream came from. Hiroshi nodded and the two started jumping through the trees in the direction Sumi had pointed out.

* * *

Hana slowly rose to her feet. She tried to walk a step but stumbled a bit. Her body still felt like it was being violently thrown around in a spiral. Her balance was completely out of whack and she just fell to her knees again. She then looked at Himawari who was struggling back to her feet.

Hana chuckled, "Looks like you're almost out of chakra."

Himawari just looked at Hana and responded, "Looks like your sense of balance is out of order."

"It may be, but…" Hana trailed off as she focused her chakra to her legs, "I'll just use my chakra to move."

She then got up with no troubles and, using her charka, began walking toward Himawari who just couldn't get up. Most of her chakra was now used up, Himawari was done for. Hana continued walking toward Himawari with an evil smirk on her face. She took out a kunai from her kunai pouch and continued her short walk to Himawari. Himawari desperately tried to find the strength to get up, run or anything but she just couldn't. She looked up again to find Hana standing over her with the same evil smirk she had when she started walking over.

"My part in the mission has now been accomplished," Hana said as she took her kunai and started her movement to slash Himawari across the throat.

* * *

Hiroshi and Sumi stopped on a branch above the opening around the river, The ground all around was saturated and the trees around were wet at the bases of their trunks.

"Look!" pointed out Sumi. Hiroshi looked in the direction Sumi was pointing and there was Hana about to slash Himawari.

Hiroshi leaped into action. He landed on the ground and quickly went through hand seals.

"Doton: Tsuchi Kabe no Jutsu! (Earth Release: Earth Wall Technique)"

Hiroshi yelled and slammed his palms on the ground. The ground rumbled as Hiroshi's technique began to manipulate the ground. The earth shook and a wall made of earth rose from the ground in between Himawari and Hana.

It happened so quickly, when Hana saw what she had slashed, she was instantly furious.

"What!" she yelled, "You didn't have any chakra left to do anymore jutsu's!"

"It was me," a male voice called out from behind her. Hana turned around to find Hiroshi with a smirk.

The wall crumbled as quickly as it had risen. Once it did, Himawari saw her savior.

"Hiroshi-kun!" she yelled with relief.

"You okay, Himawari-chan?" asked Hiroshi. Himawari nodded.

"Wh-what the…" Hana began, unable to believe Hiroshi was still alive, "Sumi-san was supposed to kill you!"

"You underestimated us once again," Hiroshi explained, "Do you really think it was going to be easy to kill us?"

As Hiroshi distracted Hana with talking, Sumi jumped down from the tree behind Hana and started walking. Himawari noticed Sumi and her eyes widened and was about to shout when Sumi motioned her to keep quiet and whispered into her ear.

"I'm here to kill Hana and Une," and he continued his slow and silent walk to Hana, taking out a kunai.

Himawari looked at Sumi with a confused look, _'Kill Hana and Une? What is going on?'_

"Sumi is just weak then, I'll kill you and the girl then!" Hana yelled then suddenly here eyes went wide as a kunai was at her throat.

"I'm sorry but this is the way it has to be," the voice from behind her said.

"S-Sumi?" was all she could get out before her body fell to the floor. Quickly blood began to form a puddle around the body's head. Hiroshi was shocked while Himawari was horrified at just what happened.

"What is going on?" Himawari yelled. Sumi turned around and smiled.

"I'm on your side," he said with the same smile.

"What do you mean?" questioned Himawari.

"He'll explain it to you later, we got to go help Shiro now first," Hiroshi cut in before Sumi had a chance to answer.

Himawari tired to get up but still couldn't. Hiroshi walked over to her and got a stance.

"You look like you're out of chakra Himawari-chan, I'll carry you."

Himawari hesitated for a bit before speaking up, "A-are you sure?" Hiroshi just nodded and Himawari go onto Hiroshi's back. Once the girl was off the ground Sumi and Hiroshi leaped into the trees in search of Shiro.

* * *

Chakra was completely surrounding Shiro. Une desperately try to hide the surprised and scared look on his face. _'Just who did Akuma-sensei put us up against?'_

"You look scared," spoke Shiro.

Une just scoffed, "You wish."

"Chakra Senbon!" yelled Shiro and his chakra formed thousands of needles. Shiro did one hand seal and the chakra needles attacked Une.

Une jumped to try and dodge the oncoming attack forgetting that Shiro can control the chakra weapon's path. Une thought he was in the clear after jumping over the needles of chakra but Shiro just guided them and they all hit Une. He yelled as they passed through him, causing him pain outside and inside his body. His back then hit a tree, but instead of falling straight down, Une just hung there, he looked around on his body and found real senbon embedded in his arms and legs.

"What is this?" he yelled from the tree.

Shiro walked over to the tree he was hanging and looked up and stared without saying a word. A few minutes passed and Une was getting frustrated at Shiro's quiet nature.

"What the hell is this?" Une yelled, "I thought those chakra weapons weren't real?"

Shiro smirked, "When you weren't looking I fused my chakra with real senbon to get you right where I want you."

Une didn't know what was about to happen and tried to desperately get loose from the tree. He was nearly successful when eight kunai flew right into him. Une yelled in pain and blood began to drip from the wounds the kunai along with the senbon made. Two kunai were embedded into each of his arms and leg securing Une to the tree so he couldn't get loose this time around.

Shiro performed a series of hand seals and another wave of charka burst out of Shiro like if he was a fountain. He performed a couple more hand seals.

"Ultimate Chakra Weapons!" he yelled and the chakra began to formed into weapons. Shuriken, Kunai, Katana's and other weapons known in the Shinobi world, they all formed with Shiro's chakra.

Une eye's widened, "What in the…"

He couldn't finish his sentence as all the weapons began hitting Une left and right and his painful scream echoed through the Forest of Death.

* * *

A scream echoed through the woods as Sumi and Hiroshi with Himawari on his back jumped from tree to tree.

"That was Une screaming," Sumi said in shock, "Just what is your teammate doing to him?"

"Shiro is a quiet weirdo and likes to inflict massive pain on his opponents without deadly force," Hiroshi answered.

Sumi turned to Hiroshi a bit, "And just how is that possible?"

"He has a special ability," Hiroshi began to explain, "He can eject his chakra from his body and create anything he desires. Mostly he creates weapons like shuriken and kunai. They don't create bleeding wounds, but they do inflict a burning, agonizing pain inside and outside the body."

"Ruthless," was all Sumi said before moving towards the direction of the scream.

Soon they were coming close to the battlefield where Une and Shiro were. Sumi quickly noticed Une embedded at the top of a nearby tree trunk by kunai. _'Killing him will be easy this time.'_

* * *

"Y-you are brutal," said Une.

Shiro did not respond and turned around and began to walk off.

"You're just going to leave me here like this?" asked Une, "You're just going to leave me hanging hopefully something else will kill me off?"

Shiro stopped walking and turned around to look up at the bleeding Une, "No, I'm leaving the rest to my teammates."

Une had a questioned look on his face but when he looked ahead he saw Hiroshi carrying Himawari. Hiroshi had an evil smirk but that's not what gave Une a massive surprise. The surprise was seeing Sumi leap at him with a kunai in hand.

Sumi's feet slammed into the tree, he used his chakra to attach himself to the tree and drove the kunai into Une's stomach. Blood instantly started leaking out of the massive wound. Sumi turned the kunai and pulled it back out, letting the blood pour out of Une's body.

"W-why?" asked Une as he hacked for breath and coughed up blood.

Sumi just looked at Une one last time, "I'm sorry, this is the way it has to be." Sumi then jumped off the tree and landed on the ground. Hiroshi climbed down the tree with Himawari still on his back and stood next to Shiro who was glaring at Sumi very intently. Finally Shiro decided to speak up.

"What are you doing here?" asked Shiro in a disapproving tone.

"Relax, I'm on your side," Sumi replied.

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" asked Shiro.

"I already explained it to Hiroshi, but I'll give you two the short version," Sumi began, "I'm a Konoha-nin, a spy for Jiraiya-sama."

"So you're a spy for the Sannin, Jiraiya?" asked Himawari.

"Correct, so you do not have to worry about me trying to kill you," Sumi replied, "So if we fight again, just remember I'm not fighting to kill you." The three nodded and Sumi continued, "Well if you'll excuse me I have to get back to Akuma and tell him we failed and that you guys killed Une and Hana."

"There's no need," an older male voice called out.

The four looked up to see Jiraiya standing in the trees, "Great work Sumi, you completed the mission."

Sumi jumped into the trees and stood by Jiraiya.

Jiraiya then smiled and then laughed, "You three must be Naruto's team."

"Yep," Hiroshi said proudly.

"Look at you three, you look pathetic."

"What did you say?" yelled Hiroshi.

"You three look like you had your asses handed back to you in a fight." Jiraiya continued his playful banter.

"Why you old fart!" yelled Hiroshi.

Hiroshi was about to charge but Jiraiya along with Sumi left. "Damn old man."

"Come on, we should head for the tower now so we can rest up, there's still three days left of this part of the test." Shiro reminded Hiroshi.

Hiroshi nodded and the three headed in the direction of the tower.

* * *

Jiraiya and Sumi managed to get out of the Forest of Death quickly.

"Alright Jiraiya-sama, I must return now."

"Alright kid, meet me back in the same place in ten days, got it?"

Sumi nodded and darted off in a random direction. Jiraiya stood and pondered if using Sumi like this really was a good idea after all. He sighed and then started walking toward the Hokage Tower.

* * *

**Another delay of update, internet was disconnected 'cause I had failed to pay the bill on time and I had this chapter ready for some time now. Anyways now the internet has been reconnected so here's the latest chapter and until next time, see ya.**


	45. Tower Reached! New Rivals Appear!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**

45. Tower Reached! New Rivals Appear! 

"It's been three days already," said a female viewing a TV.

"Yep, most of the better teams arrived at the tower early," replied a male voice next to her.

"There's still a lot of teams making it to the tower, it's just like thirteen years ago," the female continued.

"What do you mean?" asked the now obvious young man.

"Thirteen years ago there was a bunch of teams left over and we had to do a preliminary round before we actually got to the actual third exam," said the female.

"Wow," the male said.

* * *

Hiroshi sat up against a tree, tired from all their running, dodging and running away, finally they got to the tower safely. 

"Well this is the door we're supposed to enter," Shiro said.

"What are we waiting for, let's enter!" yelled Hiroshi with excitement.

Shiro turned to Hiroshi, "How come when you're in battle you're completely serious but outside, you're a complete hyperactive moron?"

Hiroshi's excitement quickly turned to anger, "What the hell did you just say, Shiro-teme (bastard)?"

Shiro smirked, "Oh not much."

"Alright guys don't fight. Let's just enter through these doors now, ok?" Himawari spoke up, stepping between a smirking Shiro and a fuming Hiroshi. Hiroshi quickly calmed down at the sound of Himawari's voice.

"Uh yeah, sure thing Himawari-chan," the boy said while laughing nervously.

Before Hiroshi could open the door, he heard footsteps approaching them; he turned and saw three people coming, two guys and a girl. When they got closer, they started to look familiar, finally that they walked close enough for Hiroshi to figure out who the three were and he sighed.

"Don't look now, here comes the stick-up-the-ass trio," he said loud enough only that Shiro and Himawari heard him.

After Hiroshi spoke, Shiro and Himawari glanced to the side and noticed them coming as well. Shiro didn't make any attempt to acknowledge it and just turned back towards the door while Himawari sighed slightly. Hiroshi was going to ignore them and enter their door until the trio stopped.

"Well if it isn't the loser squad," said the female of the group.

"Shut it, Aki," responded Himawari.

"Hey Hiroshi, you gonna shut your little girlfriend up or do I have to?" asked one of the males.

Hiroshi turned around and glared, "Ankoku, for once in your life, pull your head out of your ass."

"You want to fight?" asked Ankoku.

Hiroshi completely turned around and faced Ankoku, "You think you're strong enough to take me on?"

"Oh I know I'm strong, our sensei taught us how to mold our chakra into our punches and kicks," bragged Ankoku.

"I'm shaking," replied Hiroshi.

Shiro had been watching the exchange of words between Hiroshi and Ankoku and just sighed and shook his head lightly. _'I can't believe me and Hiroshi used to be best friends with that guy.'_ Then Shiro turned his attention to Hiroshi, _'And like I said before, I still can't believe he can actually use his brain when it comes to fighting.'_

While Shiro was in thought, he didn't realize that Hiroshi and Ankoku said some more threatening things and the two charged at each other full force. Their fist was about to connect when they were caught by two hands. Confusion set in for Hiroshi and Ankoku for a few seconds and realized someone had come and stop the fight, they didn't even sense his presence. The kid that had stopped them wore a white cloth over his head which stayed on with his forehead protector tied around his head to keep it in place. The symbol on his forehead protector resembled an outline of an hour glass. He wore a beige kimono, designed for hot and desert-like territory. He wore brown shinobi pants and brown shinobi shoes.

"Save it for later," the mysterious shinobi said in a calm voice.

"Who are you?" asked Hiroshi and Ankoku simultaneously.

The ninja chuckled, "My name is Morimoto Yabuki."

Shiro finally spoke up for the first time since the ordeal between his team and Ankoku's team began, "I see that your forehead protector doesn't bare the symbol of Konoha, just where are you from?"

The ninja turned to Shiro and smiled, "I'm from Sunagakure. (Village Hidden in the Sand)"

"A Suna-nin, eh?" spoke Hiroshi.

"That's right," said another male voice who were standing behind Ankoku and his team. All three war the same outfit but the female member of their team, you could see her brown hair since it was longer than the cloth that is used to protect them from the harmful sun in their desert, windy territory.

"See you later," said the Suna-nin and walked off with his teammates following.

Ankoku turned back to Hiroshi, "See you around losers."

Ankoku and his teammates walked off and Hiroshi just turned back to the door, _'Jerks.'_

Hiroshi opened the door, the seal on the door ripped but no one payed any attention to it all. Once inside the room, it was empty, dusty. There was nothing in the room except for a balcony on each side of the room and a large poster with words on in front of the three Genin.

Himawari looked and began to read what was on the wall, "If qualities of Heaven are your desire, aquire wisdom knowledge to take your mind higher. If Earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body in the fields and prepare to attack. When both Heaven and Earth are opened together, 'The path of peril will revert to the righteous path forever.' This,"_ 'Hmm a missing word,'_ "is the secret way, that guides us on from this place today."

Hiroshi and Shiro had been listening and reading as well and Hiroshi decided to speak.

"Just what in the hell does that mean?" he asked.

"I think we should open the scrolls now," Shiro replied not really answer Hiroshi's question.

"Ah, okay," Hiroshi said taking out the scrolls and handing one to Himawari. They carefully opened the scrolls. It both contained a word that mean "one person" or "Mankind".

Shiro's eyes widened as smoke began to come out of the scrolls, "Quick, drop the scrolls, it's some kind of Kuchiyose no Jutsu! (Summoning Technique)."

Hiroshi and Himawari dropped the scrolls and sure enough, it summoned something, or in this case someone. Once the smoked cleared, none other than Iruka was standing before them.

"Iruka-sensei?" asked a bewildered Hiroshi.

"I see you three managed to pass the second exam in," he paused to look at his pocket watch, "in three days, not bad."

"So Iruka-sensei, does any of that on the wall have anything to do with the exam?" asked Shiro.

"Of course, it's sort of a motto for Chunin," replied Iruka.

"What does it mean anyway and why is there a word missing from it?" asked Hiroshi.

Iruka smirked and looked up at the wall, "It's meaning is simple, 'If qualities of Heaven are your desire, aquire wisdom knowledge to take your mind higher,' meaning if you weakness is in the knowledge department, then train your mind. 'If Earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body in the fields and prepare to attack,' meaning if your weakness is in your physical abilities, then train your body."

"I get it, but what of the missing word?" asked Himawari.

"That? Well the writing in the scrolls is the missing word, it means 'one person' or 'mankind'."

"Anymore questions before I let you all through?" asked Iruka.

The three Genin looked at each other for a few seconds before shaking their heads.

"Alright then, there's still two days left before this exam is over so you'll be camping in the waiting area for the remainder of the exam."

The three nodded and Iruka stepped out of the way. The Genin walked to the door on the other side of the room. Hiroshi opened it and the three teammates walked through it into a big room with a statue making a hand seal at the back of the room. Two balconies were on both sides of the room. After admiring the huge room for a while, a ninja approached the three.

"Follow me into the waiting areas," the ninja spoke.

The Genin followed the ninja out of the huge room into a hallway. They followed the Konoha-nin in front of them for at least five minutes until they came to another room in the tower. Once they entered Hiroshi noticed Ankoku and his team were already in the room as well as the Suna-nins. Not far behind Hiroshi and his team was the other rookie team that was under Kiba.

Hiroshi sighed and turned to Shiro and Himawari and began to speak only to where they heard, "Yuki, Bokura and Sai made it."

"A foreigner, an idiot and an asshole," Shiro said while sighing.

It was known that her and her parents came from the Land of Water, but her parents were not ninja of Kirigakure (Village Hidden in the Mist) but she wanted to be a ninja and became a Genin of Konohagakure (Village Hidden in the Leaves). She had shoulder-length light brown hair. Her eyes were the color of the lightest green anyone had ever seen before. She wore a red cloak that was opened and underneath was a blue shirt. She wore standard female shinobi pants. Her shuriken holster was on her left leg signaling she was left handed. Her Konoha forehead protector was tied around her right leg.

Bokura was the class clown; he played around too much and always got in trouble. He never took anything serious; and he was clueless at almost everything about being a shinobi, it was a wonder how he even graduated from the Ninja Academy. He had short black hair and dark brown eyes. He wore a yellow shirt and on top a unzipped silver jacket. His Konoha forehead protector was right were it was supposed to be, on his forehead.

Sai was the arrogant asshole and cared about anybody and acknowledged no one. He always went around thinking he was better than anyone else. He wore his brown hair in spikes, like some kind of punk rocker or something. He had his Konoha forehead protector tied to his left arm. He wore a black long sleeve shirt and standard blue male shinobi pants. This was the one guy Shiro hated and if he every got to battle him, he'd show Sai that he isn't all that great like he thinks he is.

"If I fight Sai, I'm going to squash his ass," Shiro said softly.

"And I'll teach Ankoku a lesson," Hiroshi replied.

* * *

The two days of waiting went by pretty fast. In those two days another team of Konoha-nin arrived along with the Kusa-nin (Grass Ninja) that Hiroshi's team stole their scroll from. Apparently the Kusa-nin were successful at ambushing a team from Takigakure (Village Hidden in the Waterfall) who luckily had both scrolls. Now the teams were getting ready for the next phase of the Chunin Exams.

* * *

The annoying buzz of the alarm clock filled his head. Slowly his eyes began to opened and slowly turned his head in the direction of his clock. Looking at the time, indeed it was time to get up and it wasn't some Genjutsu (Illusion Technique) placed on him. He turned the alarm off and slowly got out of bed. He went straight to the bathroom and took a shower. Fifteen minutes later he came out the bathroom and got dressed. He tied his forehead protector to his forehead and decided to wear his Jounin vest today. One quick ruffle through his blonde hair, and he was out the door. 

'_It'll be good to see my students again after a week,'_ the Jounin mentally mentioned as he walked out the door and headed for the Forest of Death.

* * *

A pink-haired woman looked at herself in the mirror to make sure there were no flaws in her appearance. She had woken up extra early so she could be ready in time. She didn't know why she wanted to look as perfect as she could, seeing how she'd be treading through the Forest of Death to get to the tower to be in time for the meeting with the teams that had finished the second part of the exam. When she learned her team made it two days ago, she was surprised and thrill at the same time. With one final look in the mirror, she was off. 

'_I wonder if Nartuo's team completed the second exam too.'_

* * *

"Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama!" yelled a male ninja. 

"What is it?" asked Tsunade.

"We found two bodies in the Forest of Death."

Tsuande was suddenly paying more attention, "Do you know where they're from?"

"Well their I.D's reveal them as Hana and Une from Awekagure (Village Hidden in the Rain)."

Tsunade walked over to the bodies they had placed and stretchers and covered up. She uncovered their faces and looked at the I.D's and their Forehead protectors.

'_These must have been the kids Jiraiya was talking about. I see you have accomplished your mission Jiraiya.'_

"I'll take it from here," said Tsunade.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the ninja said and exicted the building.

"Shizune?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"Call the squad of ANBU from the Hunter unit so they can expose of these bodies," said Tsundae.

"What? Why? We should inform Awekagure their Genin were killed in the Forest of Death," protested Shizune.

"They're not really from Awekagure, they're the children undergoing training in the Tatsumaki, they were killed by Jiraiya's spy. Now get going, I'll stay here until the ANBU from the Hunter unit get here," replied Tsunade.

"H-hai, Tsunade-sama," the assistant said and went off.

Twenty minutes later Shizune returned with two members of the ANBU Hunter-nin Unit.

"It's about freaking time, I have to speak in front of the remaining caniditates of the Chunin Exam."

"Our apologies, Hokage-sama," spoke the two ANBU members.

"Not you two, Shizune!" yelled Tsunade.

"H-hai, Tsunade-sama, Gomen," replied the now scared Shizune.

Tsunade walked off and entered the large room they would be filled with people in another half an hour.

* * *

**Now the journey in the Forest of Death is over, the Peliminaries will now begin in the next chapter and don't think I haven't forgotten Tatsumaki's little trip to Kirigakure, because I haven't. Parts of it will be throughout this next part of the Chunin Exam arc. Sorry for the long update, I've been busy and I hit sort of a writer's block for this chapter. Until next time, see ya.**


	46. Too Many Teams! The Preliminaries Begin!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

**

46. Too Many Teams! The Preliminaries Begin! 

Three cloaked figures stood upon a hill that overlooked a massive gated city below. The lights shined through the swirling mists that were present. A chill ran through the air as a slight breeze picked up.

"We've finally arrived," said the cloaked man in the middle.

"So this is Kirigakure, (Village Hidden in the Mist) eh?" said the one on the right.

"Let's get going, we have a meeting with Mizukage-sama," said the cloaked man in the middle.

"Hai, Sir."

* * *

Naruto entered the Forest of Death, heading for the tower. He was summoned to the tower two days ago. Since then a smile never left his face when he thought about it.

**Flashback:**

_Naruto was about to enjoy a cup of instant ramen he just finished making for himself when a knock came to his door. At first he thought his mind was playing tricks with him so he ignored it and began eating his instant ramen. A minute later the knock came again, and this ensured Naruto it was no trick. He sighed and got up and began walking to the door._

"_I wonder who it could be," he said to himself as he approached the door. He opened the door to find one of the Chunin Exam Sentinels at his door._

"_You're a Chunin Exam Sentinels from the first exam, aren't you?" asked Naruto_

"_Hai, Naruto-sama. I've come to inform you that Team Eleven has passed the second exam, you'll be needed at the tower in the Forest of Death when Hokage-sama will explain the third and final exam," the sentinel said._

"_Th-they past?" asked Naruto as a huge grin came to his face._

"_Yes they did," the sentinel replied._

"_Thank you," Naruto said. The sentinel bid Naruto farewell and disappeared. Naruto closed the door._

"_I knew you three could do it, I'm proud of you," he said to himself with a huge grin._

**End of flashback.**

Naruto came back to his senses, but it was too late, several shuriken hit him. When he let his weight go, Naruto realized he was pinned to a tree. None of the shuriken had pierced his skin, just his jacket, pinning him to the tree.

'_What the hell?'_

Naruto took a good look at the shuriken, it was made of sand. Naruto's eyes widened, _'No, it can't be.'_

"Hello Naruto, we meet again," said a voice from within the trees. A man walked out of the shadows, revealing his tan eyes and blue Tatsumaki cloak.

"Y-you're supposed to be dead!" Naruto said, beginning to panic.

"I would have been, but that Gaara fellow killed a Suna Bunshin (Sand Replication)," replied the Tatsumaki member.

'_I might have a shot knowing he creates sand and uses it as his weapons.' _"I guess I have no choice but to fight you," Naruto said pulling out the sand shuriken, crumbling it.

"But unlike last time, you will die," replied the tan-eyed man.

* * *

All fourteen Genin that made it through the second exam stood in front all of the Jounin instructors of the teams that had made it, as well as all the Chunin and the exam proctors and of course the Godaime Hokage (Fifth Fire Shadow). Except one Jounin was missing from the group and the first one to notice was the pink-haired Jounin.

'_Where's Naruto? His team is here but not Naruto.' _Sakura mentally noted, getting worried about her blonde-haired friend.

Tsunade was looking at all the Genin left in the exam, _'Fourteen left huh, guess we'll have to do a Preliminary round first.'_

Tsunade looked at the Jounin and Chunin accompanying her and noticed a blonde-haired Jounin was missing, _'And I wonder where Naruto is, he should be here.'_

Tsuande turned her attention back to the Genin and was about to explain the next part of the exam when one of Anko's sentinels came up to Tsunade.

"Hokage-sama, if I may have a word with you," whispered the sentinel.

"What is it, Nagasaki?" asked Tsunade.

"It's about Naruto, a video surveillance camera showed him in a fight with a member of the Tatsumaki, Sunaarashi Akuma."

Tsunade's eyes widened, "Impossible, he was killed by Gaara, are you sure it was him?" she asked.

"Yes, we're positive," replied Nagasaki.

"Send the ANBU to assist him and eliminate Akuma," ordered Tsunade.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," he said disappearing.

Sakura noticed the two where talking, but since they were whispering; she could not tell what they were talking about, _'I wonder what's going on? And where is Naruto, he's still not here?'_

Tsunade turned her attention back to the Genin once again and finally was about to speak up.

"Alright, as you can see you fourteen have made it through the second exam of the Chunin exams, so now I'm going to explain what you'll be doing in the third and final exam," she began but before she could speak up a puff of smoke appeared before the Hokage. Once the smoke disappeared, a black haired in a pony tail stood before Tsunade wearing a Jounin vest and the Konoha forehead protector plate on his left arm sleeve and the lazy expression on his face.

"This is so troublesome, but allow me to interlude, the proctor of the Third Exam" replied the Chunin.

"Very well Shikamaru, the Genin are all yours," replied Tsuande.

Shikamaru turned his attention to the fourteen Genin that had passed the second portion of the Chunin Exam, _'Just like when I took the Chunin exam, how troublesome.'_

"This is going to be troublesome, but listen up," Shikamaru spoke up.

* * *

"Halt, what business do you have here in Kirigakure?" asked one of the gate guards as the three cloaked men walked inside the village.

"My name is Ookawa Shinsui, I have an appointment to meet with the Mizukage," replied Shinsui.

The guard looked over a few papers on his clipboard to see if the ninja before him was telling the truth, once he found it and a man named Ookawa Shinsui was coming to visit with the Mizukage today.

"Alright then, you have clearance. Please wait for the ANBU to arrive so they can escort you to the Mizukage's office," said the guard.

"Why the formal escort, your village does not trust us?" asked Shinsui.

"It's not that we don't trust you, this is just standard procedures when foreigners come to visit Mizukage-sama," replied the guard.

"I see, no worries then," Shinsui continued. _'Everything is starting to fall into place. Hopefully we can trick these fools into war with Konohagakure and hopefully wipe them out so they will not be a problem for us.'_

* * *

Naruto huffed and puffed, he was getting tired from dodging all of Akuma's sand attacks. Finally he stopped behind a tree in hopes of catching his breath at least for a few seconds.

"I-if I keep th-this up, I'll e-end up passing out and he-he'll kill m-me for sure," Naruto said to himself between large grasps for air.

"Quit hiding Naruto and face me like a man!" yelled Akuma.

"Fine," Naruto said coming out of hiding.

"You ready to face your demise?" Akuma asked readying for another attack.

"Do you worse, asshole," replied Naruto.

Akuma flashed through seals and sand began to form around Akuma, and took the shape of spears, "Suna Yari (Sand Spear)."

Akuma did another seal and the spears took flight toward Naruto.

"The mission to kill your brats may have failed, but I'll kill you for the sake of Kami-sama and for the sake of the Tatsumaki," Akuma said as if he was possessed.

The spears all went through Naruto, blood began pouring out of the wounds made by the spears made of hardened sand, but Naruto smirked and was dispelled.

"What?" Akuma began shouting, "It was a Kage Bunshin (Shadow Replications)!"

"Rasengan!" yelled Naruto from behind, Akuma turned around quickly to meet the spiraling ball of Chakra in Naruto's hand. It slammed into Akuma's stomach and the sheer force of the attack sent Akuma flying backwards a few hundred feet until he slammed into a tree.

"H-how were you able to a-attack me?" asked a shaken up Akuma.

"When he first battle, you caught me severely off guard and I didn't really know how you fought, back in the Land of Waves, I wasn't paying attention to you when you were fighting Kakashi-sensei, so when we fought I didn't really know what you were capable of. This time around, I did."

Akuma got up, "You may have attacked me, but the battle is far from over."

Suddenly a gust of wind picked up around Akuma, only the wind paralyzed him and now he couldn't move at all, "What the hell is this?"

"A Paralysis Jutsu?" the blonde Jounin asked no one.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you go on ahead to the tower since your presence is required, we'll handle the clean up here," said a voice over head.

Naruto looked up in the direction of the voice and saw two ANBU members standing in the tree branches, "Man, am I glad to see you guys!"

"Yeah, yeah just get goin', alright?" said another ANBU member.

"Yeah, thanks again, but how did you guys know?" asked Naruto.

"A video camera nearby caught some of the battle on tape, Hokage-sama was informed and sent us out,"

'_Baa-chan eh?'_ "Thanks again!" said the blonde and he darted off toward the tower.

About five minutes of hurrying towards the tower he heard Akuma scream for a few seconds then silence, _'They must of killed him quickly,'_

* * *

"Psst, hey Hiroshi-kun?" Himawari whispered trying to get Hiroshi's attention and it worked.

"What is it Himawari-chan?" asked Hiroshi.

"I noticed all the other team's sensei's are here, but Naruto-sensei is not."

Hiroshi looked up front and sure enough, Naruto was no where to be found. _'Did he ditch us? No, Naruto-sensei wouldn't do that to us, would he?'_

Shiro too looked and noticed, _'Where could he be?'_

"Before we go on with the third exam, there will be a Preliminary round to have the best candidates for the final exam."

"A preliminary, are you kidding?" protested Ankoku.

More protest began being shouted as no one wanted to do this preliminary round. Shikamaru sighed, _'I knew this would be troublesome.'_

"As troublesome as it may sound, it must be done since there's too many of you to go on to the next stage of the exam."

"Why is too many of us a problem?" asked one of the Suna-nin.

"Because people from the countries of our alliance will be there, we want to put on a good show, not bore them so we want the best of the best out there," Shikamaru continued to explained.

"And you want to conduct that preliminary round now?" asked Shiro.

"I know you're all tired and it's troublesome to be battling in the condition you're in now, but yes, the preliminaries will start right now,"

"Without further interruption, let's start the preliminaries," said Shikamaru.

Up in the right hand corner of the wall behind all the Jounin and Chunin, a slate began to raise revealing a screen.

"By the way, the preliminary will be one on one sudden death matches. A winner is declared when an opponent admits defeat, no longer to continue a fight or is prenounced dead, but of course I will have to step in if I feel a match is over to lessen the amount of victims, so don't be too troublesome, okay?" explained Shikamaru.

Names began to jumble up through the and stopped at two names.

"Alright, Borakku Shinji and Ki stay here while I ask the rest of you to refer to the upper floor," Shikamaru said.

All the other participants walked to the upper level to watch the battle about to begin below. Sakura's team managed to be next to Naruto's team and of course Naruto hadn't shown up yet, _'Naruto, where are you?'_ Sakura turned her attention to the ground and a puff of smoke appeared behind Hiroshi, Shiro and Himawari. The smoked cleared revealing Naruto.

"Sorry I'm late guys, what did I miss?" asked Naruto.

The three turned around, "Naruto-sensei!" they yelled in unison.

"Naruto," Sakura said in relief and happiness that Naruto was alright.

"Hey Sakura-chan, sorry I'm a little late," Naruto said and laughed out of embarrassment.

"So where you were?" asked Hiroshi.

The look on Naruto changed suddenly, "Something came up and I had to attend to it first," he lied. "Anyways who's fighting first?"

"Shinji and that Kusa-nin, Ki," replied Himawari.

Shinji and Ki stared each other down and awaited for the go ahead to fight.

"If you two are ready, you may begin!" Shikamaru said and stepped back a few feet to let the battle begin.

* * *

**Two updates in one day, I think I got over my writer's block. Told you I didn't forget about the Tatsumaki's trip to Kirikagure. As for Akuma still being alive, I had to throw that in there, mainly as to fill parts of the this chapter and as a last minute idea, but this time around he really is dead. Until next time, see ya.**


	47. Allied Battle: Konoha nin VS Suna nin!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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**

47. Allied Battle: Konoha-nin VS Suna-nin! 

"And the winner is Borakku Shinji," said Shikamaru as he looked at the beaten body of the Kusa-nin (Grass Ninja) Ki.

Shinji walked away from the battle floor to where the rest of his team was standing. They congratulated Shinji on his quick victory over the Kusa-nin. When the battle began, Shinji had came out on top in their Taijutsu (Physical Art) and Ninjutsu (Ninja Art). All the earth jutsu Ki used, Shinji countered with his water jutsu and in the end Ki admitted defeat.

Naruto just went through what he saw and smirked, _'Sakura-chan did a really good job teaching her students 'cause that was over quickly.'_

Shikamaru sighed, "Alright, let's move on to the next match."

The electronic scoreboard shuffled through names, a few seconds later it stopped on two names.

"Okay then, Suzuki Shiro VS. Ekimaru."

"Good luck Shiro," Hiroshi said.

"Win the match Shiro-kun," added Himawari.

"Show them what you can do, Shiro," Naruto spoke.

Shiro walked toward the battle floor. Sakura noticed it was one of Naruto's students who was up next.

'_I wonder how well Naruto trained his students,'_ Sakura mentally noted.

After a few minutes, Ekimaru and Shiro reached the middle of the battle floor staring each other down. Shikamaru walked up to the two and sighed.

"Whenever you two are ready, you can begin."

Ekimaru spoke first, "Our villages are allies, let's make this a respectable battle, so what do you say?"

Shiro took a while to answer, "Sure," was all his answer.

Ekimaru had a puzzled look on his face, "You don't talk much, do you?"

"Not really," replied Shiro as he got ready for battle.

Ekimaru started first as he began performing hand seals. Shiro too began performing hand seals as a fast rate.

"Fuuton: Kaze Zetsumei Bakufuu no Jutsu! (Wind Release: Wind Death Blast Technique)!"

Out of no where a blast of high winds came rushing through the arena and slammed into Shiro who had just finished performing hand seals. He had no time to eject his chakra from his body when he was hit. The force of the wind lifted Shiro off his feet and flew through the arena until his back slammed against the wall feet away.

Shiro slowly rose to his feet. He coughed up some blood but was generally okay but a bit shaken up. The pain in Shiro's back receded after a bit and Shiro began performing the hand seals he did earlier before Ekimaru's attack hit him head on.

"Chakra Kai! (Chakra Release)" yelled Shiro and his body ejected a massive amount of chakra into the air around Shiro.

"Chakra? Visible? That's impossible," said a stunned Ekimaru.

The Jounin sensei's where watching and were just as stunned.

"There's just no way a person can eject their chakra from their bodies and live," retorted Kiba in his annoying voice.

Naruto heard and smirked, he students were so going on to the third portion of the exam.

"That Shiro kid is amazing, able to eject his chakra from his body; I wonder what he's going to do next?" Sakura said to herself.

Ekimaru went through hand seals again, "Fuuton: Kaze Kadou no Jutsu! (Wind Release: Wind Vortex Technique)"

Ekimaru placed his hands out and a vortex of violent wind formed and extended quickly, its target, Shiro. Shiro watched the attack closely and waited for the last possible second to use his Chakra Toku (Chakra Shield). The attack got close enough and Shiro did a hand seal, "Chakra Toku," he whispered and his chakra shaped in front of Shiro as the attack hit.

From Ekimaru's point of view, it looked as if the attack made its mark. He smirked thinking the battle was over.

"It was a great battle as allies, you can call the match now," he said.

Once the dust the wind kicked up settled, it revealed Shiro was standing where he was not moments ago, perfectly unharmed.

"Impossible, you should be lying on the floor covered in cuts!" Ekimaru said in shock.

"I used my Chakra Toku (Chakra Shield)," replied the usually quiet Shiro.

"You mean the chakra you ejected from your body, you used as a shield?" asked Ekimaru trying to fully understand just what happened.

"That's part of it," replied the non-talkative shinobi of the rookies.

'_I guess I'll have to use _that_ jutsu then,'_ thought Ekimaru as he assessed his opponent.

Ekimaru wasted no time and started performing hand seals once again. This time there were a lot more then his last two jutsu's he used. After a few seconds of fast performance he finally finished.

"Fuuton: Kaze no Suna no Jutsu! (Wind Release: Winds of the Sand Technique)"

Naruto eyes widened, "Nani?!"

Tsunade was watching intently at the battle unfolding, _'That jutsu, that's a forbidden jutsu from Sunagakure (Hidden Sand)'_

Shiro popped in a couple of soldier pills and ejected more chakra for his use. The winds from Ekimaru's jutsu began to violently whip around the arena. All the observers had to shield themselves from the violent winds.

"This is my ultimate jutsu, hurricane force winds with mixture of sand particles for creating wounds!" began Ekimaru. "Even your Chakra Toku would not be able to stop this attack."

The attack finally started heading in Shiro's direction. If Ekimaru was right and he couldn't stop it with his Chakra Toku, then he'd at least soften the blow by far. Shiro waited for the right moment, when it came he did a hand seal and all the chakra he ejected out of his body gathered in front of him in a sad attempt in defending Shiro. The very violent winds slammed into the chakra shield. For a bit there Shiro could tell the attack stalled, maybe he would be able to protect himself after all, but after a couple more minutes, blasts of razor sharp winds started piercing through the chakra as if it was paper. Soon the chakra shield fell apart and Shiro was hit dead on with the violent winds. The sand that was inside the winds violently began cutting Shiro left and right and even through his clothes. You could only tell Shiro was wincing slightly from the pain but his quiet façade allowed him not to yell out. Soon Shiro's back was on the floor and rolling until he finally came to a stop. Small amounts of blood oozed out of the small, but numerous cuts all over the Konoha Genin.

For a while there it seemed Shiro wasn't going to get up and Naruto was getting nervous.

'_Come on Shiro, you can get up. The attack wasn't all that bad.'_

Shikamaru was about to call the match when Shiro began to move and slowly get up. Ekimaru's eyes widened.

"Impossible, he should have been down for good!" he yelled.

Shiro finally made eye contact with Ekimaru who still had his surprised look and smirked, "I may not have been able to stop the attack with my Chakra Toku, but I did soften the blow a bit which allowed me to get back up on my feet."

'_I underestimated him again,'_ mentally noted Ekimaru.

"Now it's my turn to make you scream in pain," Shiro said in a some what out of character maniacal voice.

Naruto's face turned sour after hearing that, _'He really failed at trying to sound maniacal.'_

Sakura saw the look on Naruto's face and giggled and turned back to the fight, eying Shiro, _'How cute, trying to act all tough.'_

Shiro made a hand seal and all the chakra that was flowing around him turned into spinning shuriken. Ekimaru's face turned questionable.

"What's that?" he asked.

"You'll find out," Shiro replied and did a hand seal, "Chakra Shuriken!"

The shuriken of chakra quickly went on the attack. Ekimaru, thinking he could blast away the shuriken with his wind, quickly went through hand seals, "Fuuton: Kaze Zetsumei Bakufuu no Jutsu! (Wind Release: Wind Death Blast Technique)"

The gust of wind once again came out of no where and blew through the chakra shuriken, but to the disgust of Ekimaru, they continued on their projected path.

"No!" he yelled and the shuriken all went through Ekimaru like he was paper. As soon as they onslaught began he screamed out in pain. It was over just as soon as it began, he checked to make sure he wasn't bleeding and he wasn't even though it felt like he was all over. "What the hell did you do to me?" asked the Suna Genin.

"Simple, I made you scream in pain like I said I would," replied Shiro.

"B-but how?" asked Ekimaru.

Shiro didn't answer and did another hand seal. Ekimaru began to scream again once the Chakra Shuriken went through Ekimaru once again from behind. He fell to his knees and coughed as if he was going to cough up blood but nothing came out. Ekimaru stayed on his knees for a bit before looking up.

"How do you keep doing that?" he asked.

"Simple," replied the Genin, "I can control the path."

The chakra Shiro was controlling started to fade away. Ekimaru smirked and saw it as an opening and quickly went through the hand seals for his greatest jutsu.

"Fuuton: Kaze no Suna no Jutsu! (Wind Release: Winds of the Sand Technique)"

The violent winds blew through the arena once again. Everyone having to step back from the railing and shield their eyes from the grains of sand which were infused with the wind and Naruto couldn't help but to be amazed at the power of the jutsu.

"I wish I could learn that jutsu," Naruto said to himself.

"Did you say something Naruto-sensei?" asked Himawari as she thought she heard Naruto talk.

"Huh?" replied Naruto seemingly caught off guard by the question, "Uh, no I didn't."

The winds howled and attacked, Shiro did not time to eject any chakra to use as a shield to soften the blow this time around. To everyone in watching, it looked like Shiro got hit head on with the violent winds. Naruto looked on in shock as did the rest of the spectators. It looked as if Shiro was defeated by the winds. Once the dust the violent winds kicked up as with the sand the winds contained, where Shiro was once standing, a log was in its place.

"No, he used the Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique)," Ekimaru said to himself.

"Chakra Kunai!" yelled a voice from behind Ekimaru. He quickly turned around to see four kunai made of chakra heading his way. He looked like a deer caught in headlights as he watched the kunai come at him. Ekimaru was frozen in his tracks, it was as if his brain just cut off right there and then. Soon the Chakra Kunai went through his knees and shoulders. The pain jumpstarted Ekimaru's brain and he yelled out in pain and quickly collapsed to the floor.

'_This kid is brutal, he's torturing him,'_ Shikamaru mentally noted as he watched the battle unfold.

Even Naruto was surprised, of all the times he and his students had to fight ninja; they fought separately so Naruto never really had the chance to see Shiro in action. Now this was his chance and boy was Naruto shocked.

"Shiro is quiet and laid back yet in battle he's ruthless and almost torturous," Naruto said to his students.

"I've only see him use those techniques once, and I don't want to be on the receiving end of those," replied Hiroshi.

Ekimaru was slow to get up, he struggled a bit just to get off of one knee, "W-what are you?"

Shiro just watch his opponent slowly get up and doing so he did not reply to Ekimaru's question. He was waiting, waiting for the right moment to launch his final move on Ekimaru unless of course he admits defeat. After a few minutes, Ekimaru began to struggling to stand up.

"What are you?" Ekimaru asked again hoping for an answer this time but Shiro did not reply.

Finally Ekimaru was on his feet and that's when Shiro made his move. He dashed quickly towards Ekimaru. Once he looked up, Shiro twirled and kicked him into the air. Shiro quickly took out real shuriken and kunai and threw them at Ekimaru. Everyone watching thought Shiro was going to kill Ekimaru but were relieved when they all hit pieces of Ekimaru's clothing rather than body parts. The kunai and shuriken impaled Ekimaru to the nearby wall where he hung.

"What the hell is the meaning of this?" yelled the Suna Genin.

"For my last attack," Shiro finally replied and did a few hand seals ejecting chakra from his body once again and made another hand sign, "Chakra Katana (Chakra Blade)," A blade made out of chakra formed.

"No, don't!" yelled Ekimaru, "Don't do it!"

Shiro paid no heed to Ekimaru's begging and slashed Ekimaru across the shoulder and parts of the chest, Ekimaru let out a horrible scream that made everyone in the room wince, even Tsunade.

"I give!" yelled Ekimaru.

Once Ekimaru yelled out his defeat, Shikmaru stepped in between the two, "I declare Suzuki Shiro as the winner."

Shiro turned to Ekimaru, "And to answer your earlier question of who am I, I am a Genin of Konohagakure."

Ekimaru watched as Shiro walked back to where his team was. Shikamaru pulled out all the shuriken and kunai that attacked Ekimaru to the wall and he walked slowly back where his team was standing.

Shiro came back to where he was standing before his battle and Naruto placed a hand on his shoulder. Shiro looked up to see his sensei smiling.

"You did a great job Shiro, though you could have been less torturous in your attacks," grinned Naruto.

Shiro scratched the back of his head, "Thanks Naruto-sensei and I was holding back,"

Naruto's face turned sour and Himawari couldn't help but giggle. Hiroshi too laughed a bit but turned back to the scoreboard.

'_I really hope it's my turn,'_ he thought as he watched the scoreboard shuffle through all the names of the Genin. Finally two names came up and he sighed his turn wasn't here yet.

Naruto couldn't help but notice the face Hiroshi put up once the next two names where chosen and placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. Hiroshi looked up to see what was up.

"Don't worry Hiroshi, you're turn is coming up shortly," Naruto said grinning hopefully cheering up Hiroshi, "Besides, why not save the best for last?"

Hiroshi smiled, "You're right Naruto-sensei."

Shikamaru saw the names come up and returned to the middle of the arena, _'This is so troublesome,' _"Our next match will be Hakuhen Yuki VS. Botsuraku Aki."

The two females walked down the stairs onto the battle arena. Aki stopped while Yuki continued a few more steps before turning and facing Aki staring her down while Aki did the same to Yuki. Shikamaru approached the two Kunoichi.

"Are you two ready?" asked the examiner and the two females nodded, "Then you may begin."

The two females charged for each other and a fierce Kunoichi battle began.

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**Until next time, see ya.**


	48. Something To Prove: Hiroshi VS Ankoku!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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48. Something To Prove: Hiroshi VS. Ankoku 

Everyone's eyes kept to the battle below, they could not believe how fierce the Taijutsu battle was taking place between the two Kunoichi, Hakuhen Yuki and Botsuraku Aki. Punch after punch, kick after kick between both Kunoichi. Finally, after six straight minutes of pure Taijutsu, Yuki took one hit to many and fell to the floor unconscious. Shikamaru walked up to the knocked out Kunoichi and inspected her for a second before speaking.

"This match is over, Botsuraku Aki moves on to the final round."

Aki walked back up to the balcony second floor to where her team was standing while Medic-nin came in and placed Yuki on a stretcher and exited the building. Shikamaru took his place in the middle of the arena.

"Alright, let's see the names for the next match," he said and the electronic scoreboard started searching through names once again quickly stopping at two.

'_Good luck, Hiroshi,'_ Naruto mentally said while looking at his student who was jumping up and down in the air, thanking Kami his turn had finally come.

"Alright, the next match will be Kamizuki Ankoku VS. Kurosaki Hiroshi," Shikamaru said turning his head back to the participants upstairs.

Hiroshi ran down stairs to the arena floor while Ankoku took his time. Hiroshi was growing impatient, he wanted everyone to watching to see his skills and it was like Ankoku couldn't care less about the battle.

"Hey!" yelled Hiroshi, "Would you hurry up?"

Ankoku stopped in his tracks in the middle of the stairs and looked down at Hiroshi, "Why? After I get down there, the match will start and I'd already kicked your ass, so I'm in no hurry."

Hiroshi growled, "What a lame excuse, it seems to me you're scared of losing."

Ankoku began to laugh, "Scared? I'm not scared of a loser like you. You're just talking tough because in reality, you're scared."

Hiroshi growled again but couldn't think of anything back to say. Ankoku waited for a response before speaking up again.

"Judging by your silence, I was right," the boy of team 12 said.

'_Ankoku needs to forget his rivalry with Hiroshi and focus on the battle at hand, he'll never become Chunin if he is like this,'_ Sakura mentally noted.

Naruto sighed, _'Hiroshi, quit making a fool of yourself and show him what you've got.'_

Ankoku finally made it to the arena and approached Hiroshi, stopping a few feet away from him. Shikmaru assessed the two and spoke, "Whenever you're ready, you may begin,"

Shikamaru stepped back and the two just stayed there for a while before Ankoku quickly took out a kunai and charged at Hiroshi. Hiroshi just stood there and Ankoku stabbed Hiroshi in the throat, at least that's what everyone thought at first gasping, but relief hit the arena when Hiroshi turned into a log.

'_What? When did he do that Jutsu? I didn't see him make and hand seals,' _Ankoku thought.

Suddenly Ankoku felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned around only to meet with a foot to his face. Hiroshi kicked him square in the face. Ankoku flew through the air a few feet before landing onto the ground hard and rolling a few more feet, crashing into the wall.

Ankoku got up a few minutes after hitting the wall, pain was evident throughout most of his body after he hit the wall. What he failed to notice was another Hiroshi was running towards him on his left side throwing a punch into Ankoku's face sending him into the ground again. He rose again only to find a bunch more Hiroshi's running at him from all directions.

'_Kage Bunshins? (Shadow Replications) When did he learn that technique? It doesn't matter, I need to rid these clones and find the real son of a bitch.'_

Ankoku quickly went through seals, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)" Ankoku took a deep breath and then exhaled where a great ball of flames came out and scorched all the clones, dispersing them all immediately. After the smoke cleared, no body was standing in the fighting arena except for Ankoku himself.

"Where the hell did he go?" asked Ankoku as he looked around everywhere and couldn't find him. It stunned him since there was no where in the arena for Hiroshi to hide in or behind. Ankoku walked toward the middle and stopped again, "Where are you?" he yelled.

"Where?" said a voice that just echoed around, "I'm right under you, Earth Release: Ground Decapitation Technique."

Two hands came out of the floor and grabbed Ankoku by the ankles and dragged him into the ground while Hiroshi got out and stood over Ankoku, flipping a kunai in his hands.

"You can give up now, or I can kill you. Decide," replied Hiroshi while Ankoku looked at him in anger.

"I'd never give up to a loser like, so I'd rather you kill me," Ankoku said, finishing the last part with a smirk that Hiroshi didn't take note of.

Naruto sighed as he saw Hiroshi raise his kunai, _'You're falling for a trap kid, don't do it.'_

Hiroshi smirked as he slammed the kunai into Ankoku's skull, or what would have been had Ankoku turned into a log.

"Thought you had me, didn't ya? Well not today, I told you I would win.," Ankoku taunted and started performing hand seals which Sakura quickly realized.

'_Oh no, he's going to use _that _jutsu,' _Sakura noted mentally, and started to worry that Ankoku was going too far with this fight.

Shikamaru on the other hand wasn't really paying attention like he should have been and was too late to step in and stop the battle.

"Katon: Karyuu Endan! (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Blast)"

Ankoku inhaled deeply, nearly choking on too much oxygen and exhaled with a powerful fire blast in the shape of a dragon.

"What the fuck?" yelled Hiroshi as his eyes widened. He quickly went through seals, "Doton: Tsuchikabe no…" but was couldn't get the jutsu out before the massive dragon flame hit Hiroshi dead on.

"Hiroshi!" yelled Naruto as he tried so desperately not to jump down in the arena. He knew if he did, the match would be over and Hiroshi would of lost, but then again the safety of his students is more important than anything else, but he couldn't let himself destroy Hiroshi's pride, he believed in Hiroshi's abilities, he believed in all his students so he decided not to interfere hoping it was the right call.

Ankoku smirked, "Shikamaru-sama, call the match, it's over."

'_This is all so troublesome,'_ sighed Shikamaru mentally and walked over toward the smoke to inspect to see if Hiroshi was down and out, but to his amazement he did not see Hiroshi anywhere. Shikamaru stepped back out of the smoke and said the words that shocked Ankoku more than anything, "The match is not over."

"What? That can't be, the bastard should be dead, I saw him get hit head on by that jutsu!" yelled a now upset Ankoku, "Who the hell's side are you own now anyway?"

The smoke finally cleared and Ankoku turned from his yelling at Shikamaru to where Hiroshi was supposed be lying down to see Hiroshi not there at all. A cancellation of a jutsu could be heard but Ankoku paid no attention right away until Hiroshi spoke up.

"Thought you had me there, didn't ya you idiot?" taunted Hiroshi. Ankoku turned around to see Hiroshi perfectly find standing near the wall. "You didn't even notice there was one more pillar holding up the balcony second floor then there was supposed to be."

"But how?" asked Ankoku who was really too surprised to really speak.

"When you were distracted by my Kage Bunshins, I used Henge (Transformation) to hide while I waited to the right moment," replied Hiroshi. "I told you, you would not beat me here."

Hiroshi began flashing through hand seals before coming to the sign of the boar, "Doton: Tushihashira no Zetsumei no Jutsu! (Earth Release: Earth Pillars of Death Technique)"

The arena began to shake as sharp pillars made of earth rose from the ground quickly making a line toward Ankoku. He began dodging and jumping backwards to avoid getting impaled by one of the sharp pillars. While Ankoku was destracted, with dodging pillars, Hiroshi quickly ran toward the back of the arena where Ankoku was jumping backwards toward.

Ankoku was quickly tiring out as he got closer and closer to getting hit by the pillars that continuously rose from the earth, non-stop.

Hiroshi got to his destination and went through hand seals once more, "Doton: Tsuchikabe no Jutsu! (Earth Release: Earth Wall Technique)"

A wall of solid earth rose from the ground, and it rose quickly. It stood at least nearly twenty feet high, with room for Hiroshi to quickly climb up the back and stand on the very top and awaited for the right moment to do the next step into his attack.

Ankoku continued to dodge pillar after pillar that rose from the ground. One nearly went through his foot had he not dodged right away. His back slammed into a hard wall and he looked up to find a giant wall of earth blocking his way.

"Shit!" he yelled and quickly ran up to the middle thinking he was safe from the pillars. He was breathing heavily and trying to catch his breath when he noticed smaller pillars began coming out of the wall, "God, do they ever end!" he yelled and began running up the wall, failing to notice Hiroshi was on the top smirking at him.

This was it, this was his chance to show he was strong, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Replication Technique)"

Three clones appeared beside him and all three of the Hiroshi's began to flash through hand seals, "Doton: Iwa Genkotsu! (Earth Release: Rock Fists!)," they all yelled slamming their fists inside the rock. When they got their hands out of the earth, they were all covered in a thick layer of earth, glued on by their chakra. Two of the clones started running down the right side of the wall, while the third started running down the left side of the wall. Ankoku was running towards the three shadow replications, passing one but the second one caught Ankoku by surprised and kicked Ankoku off the wall and slammed his rock fist hard into Ankoku's stomach, causing him to quickly wall towards the ground. He thought he was done for when the second clone he passed moments ago caught him and then punched him hard in the face with his rock fist. Ankoku's jaw cracked a bit and the force of the blow caused him to fly towards the left. That one clone was waiting and slammed his rock fist hard into Ankoku's back, finally he started to yell in pain after being hit three times by the painfully hard fists of the clones. The force of the blow to his back caused him to fly upwards. The real Hiroshi jumped up, quickly canceling the first two jutsu's which all turned into a pile of soft dirt,

"I don't want to kill you, so when you hit the ground, the dirt will cushion your fall a bit," Hiroshi said before slamming his on rock fist in Ankoku's stomach you coughed up a lot of blood.

Ankoku went tumbling down to the ground and slammed into the pile of dirt hard. Though the fall was cushioned by the soft dirt, it still left a small crater in the floor. Ankoku had gone completely unconscious.

Shikamaru walked to Ankoku to make sure he wasn't dead. Ankoku was breathing, but he looked like shit now. Blood stains around his mouth and on his close, a massive bruise on his face as well.

"This battle is over, winner is Kurosaki Hiroshi."

Hiroshi began cheering for himself while the participants stared in disbelief of the power Hiroshi had just shown.

Hiroshi quickly ran up the stairs to where his team was at and stood right in front of Naruto, "So, what did ya think, Naruto-sensei?"

Naruto gave his trademark grin, "You did great Hiroshi, but you could have been a little less brutal in your attack."

Hiroshi began to rub the back of his head and chuckled nervously, "I guess I did overdo it a bit, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did," Naruto replied with a smile.

"I think you did great, Hiroshi-kun," Himawari added.

"Good job," was all he got out of Shiro.

"Thanks guys, and you'll do well yourself, Himawari-chan," said Hiroshi with a smile.

"Alright, we're going to get this dirt clean quickly before we go onto the next mach," replied Shikamaru towards the participants, _'Man this getting more and more troublesome by the minute, why can't this hurry up and end already. I want to sit back and watch the clouds already.'_

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Three figures walked along with two masked men through a village that was covered in mist.

"Never thought you'd come back, Shinsui-sama," said one of the mist ANBU.

"I never thought I'd come back myself, but I had to see the Mizukage about something," replied Shinsui.

Hayase noticed the troubled look on Kami's face, "What's wrong with you, Kami-san?"

"Don't say my name you fucking idiot," Kami scolded Hayase while whispering.

"Err, sorry," replied Hayase, "Totosai-san, what's wrong?" he tried again.

The ANBU was starting to take interest in the third guy with them as he had not seen him before,

Kami whispered to Hayase, "Unlike your brother, I'm a missing-nin, if they find out who I am, their ANBU might seize me, especially since I'm from Konoha!"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot."

The three Tatsumaki members along with their ANBU escort reached the Mizukage's tower. The two ANBU ushered the Tatsumaki members inside and climbed a lot of stairs before standing by two large doors.

"You three stay here, I'll go inform Mizukage-sama his guests have arrived," said one of the ANBU and went inside.

The other ANBU decided to take this opportunity to question the third cloaked person that was traveling along with Shinsui.

"Who are you?" the ANBU member asked Kami.

"Who me?" he asked, playing stupid.

"Yes you, I've never seen you before," the ANBU member replied.

"My name is Totosai, I'm a client of Shinsui-sama's."

The ANBU didn't quite believe him, but let it go for the time being as the other ANBU member came out of the office.

"Okay, Mizukage-sama will see you now," replied the ANBU member, allowing the three Tatsumaki members inside the Mizukage's office.

* * *

It took a good ten minutes to get the arena cleaned of the dirt Hiroshi had created by manipulating the earth underneath the tile flooring, finally Shikamaru stepped back onto the arena.

"Alright, time to announce the next match," he said as the scoreboard began shuffling through names again. Finally it stopped once again.

"Alright, next match will be Kubo Himawari VS. Niwa," Shikamaru said.

The Konoha Kunoich along with the Kusa Kunoichi quickly made their way to the arena where the two faced each other.

"I'm going to make you pay for what you and your team did to use in the Forest of Death you little bitch," quietly said the Kusa Kunoichi, only to where Himawari heard.

"Bring it Kusa slut," replied Himawari.

Shikamaru finally walked to the two Kunoichi, "Whenever you are ready, you may begin the match."

Just as Shikamaru finished, the two Kunoichi charged at each other. Naruto, who was looking, knew this fight was going to be intense.

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**Sorry for the long update, I've been busy with work and other personal stuff, but I've returned with the latest chapter. Until next time, see ya.**


	49. Author Note

Just want you to know I've started another story, you may or may not like it and its not OC filled like my other this one is, this new story has just one OC. Also I am still going to work on this story as well its just right now I've reached a block and can't figure out doing the next chapter. I'll delete this author note when I get the next chapter of this story out.


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